Adolescent DUI Scenario

It is half past ten and your child has not returned. After a worrisome hour or so, you hear a thud on the door and you recognize it as a police officer’s flashlight. When you open the door, you see the blue and red light flashing in the background and horrible thoughts go through your mind. The police officer tells you that you have to come down to the station to pick up your adolescent that has been arrested for drunk driving. After your initial thoughts, it is almost a relief to hear that your child has just been arrested and is not in a drawer at the morgue or comatose in ICU.

Key to Preventing Drunk Driving In Young Adults

After this scenario you and your kid need to sit down for a talk. You should give them the facts first. Start with the statistics and the end results of many DUIs. Do not do all the talking; give them a chance to explain themselves. If you listen long enough they may come to some positive conclusion on their own. Parents are not experts on the subject but they can prepare themselves before hand by reading up on all the advice that advocacy groups offer for free. Being involved at your sons or daughters school will go along way also. If you are extra vigilant and have a good relationship with your child, this conversation would have happened long before the patrolman’s knock on the door. The key is to begin early and stay involved in your adolescent’s life.

When It Comes To DUI, Somber Parental Choices Are the Key

Do maintain a good, positive bond with your child but don’t become the best friend who never really brings up serious issues with them. It’s good to understand your children but don’t be the cool mom or dad that buys alcohol for their adolescent children. The other extreme to avoid is the extremely authoritative parent that does not really listen to their concerns. A happy medium is needed to help prevent drunk driving in young adults.

Binge Drinking Is Not a Simple Notion to Understand For Students

To date, the number of drinks one must consume in one sitting for it to be regarded as binge drinking incident have not been pinned down. Experts cannot agree on the volume of drinking and the time period for binge drinking episodes. Recently a survey of college students was published that stated that the majority of co-eds believe that binge drinking constitutes drinking 5 or more standard drinks for men, and 4or more for women, in one hour. However this definition is indistinct and there are variables that are not taken into account in this definition. Drunk driving can be defined by the results of a test of bodily fluids, or motor skills, however binge drinking avoids easy definitions.

The Dilemma in Passing Tough Binge Drinking Laws

If a college student attached a funnel to a keg of beer and attempted to consume its contents, would this be considered as binge drinking? Most people would think so. However, it does not fit the definition of binge drinking according to college students surveyed. Think about the unpredictable results of the above action. It could lead to anything from death via alcohol poisoning to a student waking up with a hangover the next morning. This example reveals how hard it is to pass a law against such actions with offers such mixed results after completion.

No Legislative Solution Possible to Curb Binge Drinking

Like students most lawmakers see the dilemma of this solution and realize how unfeasible it is to find a person guilty of binge drinking without an agreed upon definition of the problem. In addition, many students see binge drinking as a problem that only affects the drinker. If they get behind the wheel of a car, there are already laws that cover drunk driving; also there are laws against public drunkenness and underage drinking. Therefore, this problem seems to defy legislative solutions.

A Drinking Deterrence Approach– The Only Way to Stop Binge Drinking

Some experts suggest that in order to stop binge drinking, laws targeting drinking specifically will have better results. Considering this, many students have proposed that campuses begin efficient anti-alcohol consumption programs to curb binge drinking.

Community Effort is Required to Curb Binge Drinking

It appears that the solitary solution to stop binge drinking will be a change in societies’ view on consumption of alcohol in general. Limiting or ending this kind of conduct requires community effort as this is something that students cannot manage by themselves.

Increased Rates of Drinking and Driving in College Students

It has been documented that college students have increased rates of drinking and driving when compared to the general population in America. Drinking and driving is one of the most widespread and severe alcohol-related issues encountered by American college students.

Adolescence Risky Behavior – A Cause for Drunk Driving

Researchers have established that the youth tends to involve in riskier behavior throughout adolescence. This risky behavior may extend to alcohol experimentation at levels that are beyond the norm. This may explain college students’ increased propensity to drink and drive.

Physical Cause of College Student Drunk Driving

Young people also have a reduced tolerance to alcoholic beverages. Factors like lower body weight and reduced fat to muscle ratios in youth increase the negative effect of alcoholic beverages. Put this together with the increase in college drinking and it will inevitably leads to elevated levels of drinking and driving.

Environmental Cause of Drinking and Driving in College Students

Drinking and driving can also be contributed by environmental factors such as peer pressure and a permissive attitude towards alcohol in a college student’s parents. The environmentally caused behaviors can be a sign of the multifaceted relationship between the emotional development of college students and the values instilled in them by their environment. For instance, college students that have parents and peers who drink heavily, and they see drinking as a socially acceptable past time, are more likely to drink and drive than someone of the opposite orientation.

Media Promotion of Alcohol’s Affect on Drunk Driving in College Students

Media influences can also be a cause of drinking and driving in college students. These days, drinking is heavily promoted in;

• Movies
• Television
• Radio
• Billboards
• Online

The effect of this promotion begins well before a youth enters a college and the freedom that college life provides may just be the triggering mechanism for drinking and driving and other destructive behaviors in college students.

Drunk Driving in Society

Alcohol is commonly accessible and forcefully promoted in America. Drinking also continues to be a standard part of American life and this extends to college life as well. The dangerous practice of drinking and driving will continue to be a problem among college students as long as this atmosphere persists. To address the causes of drunk driving in college students we must address the causes in the society as a whole, because the effect on one individual will undoubtedly affect the other.