Work Hard, Party Harder: Alcoholism and College Campuses

College! A great place to build a foundation for the future. A great place for independence, responsibility and maturity. Sure that’s all part of the whole college experience, but what really lurks on campus during the late nights? What happens on Fridays and Saturdays? Are students in their dorms anxiously for Monday to come? Well, all types and ranges of activities come about; from a good game of tennis at the tennis court, to lighting up that mary-jane at the parking lot. I know this may sound harsh, but how many college students you know spend their weekends in a library reading books, or thinking about what would be discussed in next weeks class? Work hard, party harder is a typical college students mentality (most of them is the other way). The problem is how much fun is too much fun? How much fun can a college student do without being deviant?

Underage drinking on college campus, one can say is the most abused juvenile matter next to drug use. Alcoholic beverages have been known for many centuries, but it wasn’t until the Middle Ages that the substance alcohol was discovered. Someone –possibly a scientist—collected a colorless, flammable liquid, was once called burning water then was named alcohol in the 1500s.

Alcoholism is a disease in which drinking alcoholic beverages interferers with some aspect of life. A person, who drinks alcohol knowing the consequences of the fact that it is a loss on health, job, or good relationships with family friends and colleagues, is said to be suffering from alcoholism. There is a great different between casual, or social and drinkers and alcoholics, or compulsive drinkers. The social drinker drinks because they choose to, and the compulsive drinker drinks because they must, even whe...

... middle of paper ...

...ind of “culture” fixed in every level of the college student environment. Customs handed down through generations of college drinkers reinforce students' expectation that alcohol is a necessary ingredient for social success. These perceptions of drinking are the going to ruin the lives of the students because it will lead to the development alcoholism. College students who drink a lot, while in a college environment, will damage themselves mentally, physically, and socially later in life, because alcohol adversely affects the brain, the liver, and the drinkers behavior.

Alcoholism has been the leading cause of death in the young adult population in the United States. This grim statistic is based on accidental deaths resulting from drunken driving; from fires carelessly dropped cigarettes; and from over dosage with another sedative under the influence of alcohol.