Making the Grade on College Drinking Prevention
Written by: Frances M. Harding, Director, SAMHSA’s Center for Substance Abuse Prevention
In December 2011, the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s Monitoring the Future survey posted some fantastic news: Underage drinking by 8th, 10th, and 12th graders has reached historical lows. Among 12th graders, for example, past-month alcohol use dropped to 63.5 percent in 2010, down from a high of 74.8 percent in 1997. While this decrease is heartening, it also signals a need to step up our prevention game on college campuses. Underage college students drink often and excessively. How can we help maintain our progress in reducing underage drinking as today’s high school students enter college? How can we help current college students who drink make healthier choices?
Please join the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) on February 6, 2012, from 1:45 to 3:00 p.m. (EST), as it hosts Making the Grade on College Drinking Prevention, a live Webcast of a national 2012 Town Hall Meeting on underage drinking prevention. Dr. William DeJong, Boston University School of Public Health, will moderate a panel that will include Dr. Ralph W. Hingson, director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism’s Division of Epidemiology and Prevention Research, and representatives from campus communities. The panel will discuss both challenges and successes in preventing alcohol use by college students, with a focus on proven environmental prevention approaches, and answer questions from a live audience and from people posting via the Web. For more details and login information, visit http://www.stopalcoholabuse.gov/townhallmeetings/resources/trainings/webcasts/making-the-grade/default.aspx. Follow us on Twitter @SAMHSAgov, #THM2012, for meeting highlights before, during, and after the event.
Underage drinking prevention on college campuses requires use of the latest prevention science. This Town Hall Meeting will focus on environmental prevention, a proven approach to making alcohol less available and appealing to young people. Some goals of environmental prevention are to change social norms or attitudes relating to the use of alcohol, to control the availability of alcohol, and to strengthen enforcement of laws and regulations governing its use. The meeting also will identify free resources that campus communities can use in holding similar events as part of SAMHSA’s 2012 Town Hall Meeting initiative.
As the mother of a college-age daughter, I believe that this Town Hall Meeting focuses attention on a critical public health issue. Underage drinking at the college level has severe consequences. Each year, nearly 6,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are injured under the influence of alcohol and over 1,800 students die from alcohol-related causes. More than 150,000 students develop an alcohol-related health problem, while as many as 1.5 percent of students report a suicide attempt due to drinking or drug use. About 25 percent of students who drink report academic consequences, such as missing classes and falling behind. All parents want their children to succeed academically and in life. Mixing alcohol with the stressors of college life is a recipe for trouble.
During 2012, hundreds of communities nationwide will host Town Hall Meetings to encourage greater use of environmental prevention approaches in achieving measurable reductions in underage drinking. I urge you to join this national grassroots effort as well as participate in our Webcast event. Please share this information with others who can help make the grade on college drinking prevention.
