Effects of Alcohol Abuse on College Students

Betty Gabriel Mr. Scott English 1301-16 12 November 2009 Alcohol and College Students: What are the Effects? College is a time in one’s life to start over, to start off on a clean slate. It is also time for a person to prepare for their future. Most importantly, college is time for people to achieve an education, while furthermore working on who they are and who they want to be. However, when people hear about college experiences, they are mostly focused around wild parties, drugs, and alcohol: the makings of a “good time”. Most of the time, all people hear and talk about is how much alcohol they drank the night before and how “awesome” it was, but what are some of the effects that result from the road of alcohol? Since the main reason to go to college is to get an education, this is usually where one’s problems start when they choose to abuse alcohol. Alcohol abuse can often lead to not attending class, missing important deadlines, failing tests or projects, not being adequately prepared for major tests or projects, and developing difficulty studying. Approximately “one-third of college students admit to having missed at least one class because of their alcohol use, and nearly one-quarter of students reported failing a test or project because of the aftereffects of the alcohol they drank” (Facts on Tap, 1). According to a nationwide CORE Alcohol and Drug survey, “a person’s GPA is one of the factors of how much alcohol is consumed.” For example, “A average students consumed 3.3 drinks per week, while B average students consumed 4.8, C average students consumed 6.1 drinks per week, and D or F average students consumed around 9 drinks per week” (The University of Portland, 1). The “average [college] student spends about $900 on alcohol each year, while they only spend about $450 on books” (Facts on Tap, 1). Frequently, if students are doing badly in school, they will either drop the class or drop out of college period. Just about “159,000 of