Binge
drinking definition debatable
Our
view
College
has come to the point where it is synonymous
with beer, keg stands and promiscuity.
The reality of it all is that alcohol,
insane physical acts and sexual activity
are a part of the college experience
for many throughout the country.
These do eventually lead to good times and bad times, planned occurrences and
unplanned disasters.
Efforts to prevent or inhibit drinking seem at times well-intended but far-fetched.
Colleges throughout the nation, despite regional differences, appear to agree
that binge drinking is a major problem plaguing campuses today.
But what exactly do they mean by binge drinking? Are they talking about the
five-minute relentless keg stand? Are they referring to someone single-handedly
chugging an entire 18-pack or pounding a fifth of whiskey?
For most, the aforementioned would be examples of binge drinking — drinking
to get trashed, smashed, wasted or faded. Whatever you want to call it, you
might be surprised to learn that the standard definition of binge drinking
is not anywhere near those examples. In fact, it’s much less.
The widely accepted definition of binge drinking is only five drinks for a
man or four for a woman in the same sitting. This definition is not nearly
expansive enough, and for many college students it is laughable and just plain
wrong.
For many of average weight who drink sparingly, five drinks is not binging.
Five drinks may get some a bit tipsy, off the ground or buzzed, but definitely
not intoxicated beyond belief. Using the verb binge, a verb with a connotation
of extremity, to describe such acts is an exaggeration used to serve a different
agenda.
By using extreme words, advocates against excessive college drinking are not
helping the problem. They are nullifying their arguments, refusing to face
the music that is the real college scene in our nation.
The mentalities behind groups who promote an apparent anti-binge drinking philosophy
are only one step behind the Prohibition Era beliefs that alcohol should be
banned. But anyone who has taken history knows that prohibition failed miserably.
Of course, it’s not hard to point out the problems they talk about that
come with alcohol: date rape, poor academic performance, addiction, and hangovers.
All are factors that impede or destroy the road to getting that degree.
But even considering those evils, finding the solution to them will not be
achieved with an apocalyptic view of the problem. Calling five beers a national
crisis for higher education is like the boy who cried wolf. Excessive drinking
is a very real and very dangerous problem, but by defining it so narrowly and
rather incorrectly, any good intentions become void like empty beer cans.
By using extreme terms alongside extremist logic for college consumption, the
sensibility somewhere in the middle is lost, drowned by torrents of bad ideas
mixed with benevolent goals. A realistic approach with an even more realistic
definition is needed, and it can start by considering the fact that five drinks
is not a perilous plunge to the dark side. |
