Survey finds students binge drinking, driving by IVCC students
By Maggie Rhynes
IV Leader Staff
The re-creation of a 1993 student survey on alcohol
consumption has shown that Illinois Valley Community College students are
drinking, often binging, and driving while intoxicated.
Over 461 students were surveyed, 332 were under 21 and 129
were over 21. Of those surveyed, 92 percent have consumed alcohol at some point.
For those that have consumed alcohol, 83 percent did so for the first time at
the age of 17 or younger.
Apparently, underage drinking is not widely discouraged or fought against in the
Illinois Valley. Over two fifths of students said they were allowed to drink in
their parent's homes while underage.
Furthermore, 40 percent of the underage students polled said
they had been served alcohol at an establishment in the Illinois Valley. Yet
only 11 percent said they use fake identification.
Based on the result, it seems carding patrons in bars and
restaurants is not being enforced as strongly as possible. Even those old enough
to purchase alcohol do not have to show their IDs, as 74 percent of students
over 21 said they had been served without being carded.
Perhaps the easy access to alcohol or the approval of parents
has led to the number of students who consume alcohol. Whatever the contributing
factors, students are drinking often and in large amounts.
The majority of students polled, 32 percent, said they drink
alcohol on a weekly basis. That number is up two percent from the 1993 survey.
However, in 1993, 1 in 8 students admitted to drinking on a daily basis.
Currently, only 1 in 20 students are drinking daily, a significant improvement
over the last 13 years.
Many students commented on their surveys that they drink
because they have nothing better to do. One anonymous student said, "I think
that so many kids drink around here because there is a lack of things to do.
When there's nothing better to do, you resort to drinking, even if you're just
sitting around watching movies and stuff."
Another anonymous student agreed and pleaded to "get some
other activities in this town besides drinking and parties!"
Another student said, "Illinois Valley is boring and small,
so we have nothing else to do."
What hasn't changed over the years is the number of students
who reported binge drinking, which is defined in national studies as routinely
drinking 5 or more drinks in a row. The standard is typically consider as 4
drinks in a row for women, but the IV Leader did not ask students to specify
their sex.
From 1993 to 2006 the number of students who are binge
drinking remains at half. The number of underage drinkers engaging in binge
drinking has decreased, from two thirds in 1993 to just over one half in 2006.
These percentages are consistently higher than the national
average, which states that 40 percent of students binge drink.
The remainder of IVCC students was split evenly between
drinking 1 to 2 drinks or 3 to 4 drinks routinely. Several students commented
that they drank responsibly and only with people they could trust. Such as one
over-21 student, who drinks only monthly and typically only has one to two
drinks. This student said, "If done responsibly, then I see no problem, but if
the person is irresponsible then I have a problem with it. I no longer drink and
drive for fear I may accidentally injure or kill someone else."
According to information found on the government-maintained
website, www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov, students who attend two-year
institutions and commuter schools, such as IVCC, typically drink the least. This
is not the case at IVCC, where survey results showed students above the national
averages.
The number of nondrinkers at IVCC is in line with the
national average, however. Nationally the percentage of nondrinkers is about 19.
At IVCC, the percentage is 18.
Dozens of survey respondents wrote comments on their surveys
explaining that they don't drink, because they know people who are alcoholics.
Such as one student who said, "I stopped drinking alcohol about 20 years ago
because my husband is an alcoholic, and I had other alcoholics in my family."
One underage student echoed the same. "I don't drink because
my uncle was killed in an accident while drunk, my best friend's mom died on her
birthday from alcoholism and my dad was an alcoholic," said the anonymous
student.
The comments on alcoholism continued. "I don't drink because
I know what it does," said another student. "My father is an alcoholic, my
mother is an alcoholic and both of my sisters drink frequently.”
The effects of heavy drinking are clearly a major player in
IVCC students' judgment and safety. When asked if they had ever engaged in
unprotected sex as a result of alcohol consumption, 25 percent of those
responding to the question said “yes.” Nearly 10 percent said they couldn't
remember.
The problem of alcohol leading to unsafe sex is occurring
nationally. According to national research, 400,000 college-age students have
unprotected sex each year as a result of alcohol.
When it comes to getting behind the wheel of a car, half of
the students have done so while drunk. The problem of drunk driving has only
worsened since the 1993 survey.
In 1993, 22 percent of underage students admitted to drunk
driving, that number has doubled in the current year. The number of legal
students drinking and driving was 64 percent, up 4 percent from 1993.
56 percent have been a passenger in the car of a drunk driver. The effects of
drunk driving are clearly widespread and well known among students, as 60
percent claimed to know someone who was in an alcohol-related car accident.
While the majority of IVCC students are tipping the bottle at
some point, there remains a minority of students who have never consumed
alcohol. This minority accounted for 8 percent of the surveyed students.
Some students have consumed alcohol in the past, but have
given up the practice. 18 percent of students said they currently never drink.
Even those who abstain from alcohol use, or use alcohol in a
responsible manner are not safe from the effects of it. According to a report by
the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, "drinking by college
students ages 18 to 24 contributes to an estimated 599,000 injuries and 97,000
cases of sexual assault or date rape each year."
One survey respondent, who admitted to binge drinking,
drinking weekly and driving drunk wrote, "I like to wake up in the morning with
a story to tell." However, the NIAAA report states that 1,700 college students
each year aren't waking up at all. The NIAA cites that number as the number of
college students yearly whose deaths resulted from alcohol.