One of the first thing people will ask you when you choose a college or
university to attend is, "Is that a party school?" or "What's
the nightlife like?" It's a known fact that a large percentage of college
students enjoy partying – many alumni look back fondly on their college years
and all the parties they went to. But this is also precisely what frightens
parents about sending their kids away and the reason for universities cracking
down with rules and laws, and when you take some lawsuits into consideration,
it's easy to see why.
A recent study shows that teen drinking
may cause irreversible brain damage. A neuroscientist from the University of California
took brain scans of teens who drink habitually and compared them to teen
non-drinkers. The comparison showed that there is compromised white matter in
the brains of heavy drinkers, and that this could be irreversible.
But it's not just teens that make us worry, it's overage drinkers, too.
Remember the court case in which a bar fight turned into the stabbing of a
22-year-old football player in College Station? According to attorney Marshall
Davis Brown Jr, the stabber was acting in defense of his friend,
who was being beaten after a bar fight. Or what about the numerous college
students who drink and drive each year, harming not only themselves, but
innocent bystanders?
The fact that so many schools are becoming strict, or even dry, when it
comes to alcohol on campus might not please the students who love to party. But
the evidence is there – something needs to be done about the behaviors that
stem from excessive student drinking.