How many times do I have to see phrases like, “Alcohol a possible factor in (insert bad thing),†before people realize that excessive drinking probably isn’t a good call? It seems like every time there’s a rape, car crash, someone getting hit by a car or someone doing something generally stupid on campus, alcohol is involved. I do realize that this isn’t always the case, but more often than not it is.
Supposedly we’ve all come to college to learn, and that learning shouldn’t be limited to a classroom. We, as intelligent people, should be able to see the mistakes of others and learn from them. Yet time and time again I read in the paper about how someone did something stupid because they were drunk at 3 a.m., and thought they should try to stumble or drive home, or thought the guy at the bar really wanted to go back to his place just to stay up all night and talk.
I see this in the Kernel and I hear people on campus talking about how they woke up with someone they didn’t recognize, or failed an exam because they got wasted the night before. Or in some cases, they had to go get tested because the person they took home just found out that it wasn’t “just a cold sore.†And how do they forget about all the trouble alcohol just caused them? By drinking of course!
Everyone always says, “That won’t happen to me.†Did you catch that? Everyone says it won’t happen to them, but it does happen to some of them. I’m sure everyone you’ve read about or heard about who let alcohol screw up their lives and the lives of their loved ones said, “That won’t happen to me.â€
As a concerned UK student, I want you to ask yourself this the next time you’re about to go out and get plastered with your friends: what good has alcohol ever actually done me? You can have fun without alcohol, trust me I’ve done it before; and I didn’t fail an exam or get tested for STDs afterward.
Tyler Williams
mechanical engineering junior
Tyler,
Thank you so much for speaking your mind about this issue. I have been trying to tell so many people that for so long, but it seems like I am a loner. I have seen first hand the many problems alcohol can cause. It’s not like you can never drink at all, but caution must be taken not to over-do it and get drunk. Heavy drinking is immature and never leads to happy endings.
I would like to let all who share similar sentiments and concerns know that UK as a student organization called “The CAUSE” that promotes low-risk alcohol use regarding college students. Although we always advocate that the lowest risk is to abstain from alcohol use, our goal is also to help educate those who choose to drink. Many college students do not understand the positive health benefits regarding low-risk (1 or 2 servings/day) alcohol consumption. Many do not know how constant alcohol use in social settings can create social dependency and lowered self-efficacy that you can’t “graduate” out of. Still others do not know their family history of alcoholism and how it affects their likelihood of developing dependency issues for both drugs and alcohol.
The Alcohol & Health Education Office and The CAUSE are dedicated to empowering our students through education and modeling behavior of a student culture that counters the negative stereotype associated with college students and alcohol. With 20 trained, scholarship members representing various areas throughout the college, we still have room to grow…especially more males!
If you or anyone you know is interested in volunteering or becoming a trained, scholarship member, please contact me at Andrew.Smith02@uky.edu or visit our website http://www.Q-Authority.org.
Andrew M. Smith
Director, Alcohol & Health Education Office
559 POT