A recent study posted on the 12 Keys Rehab website stated that 17 million college students consume alcohol.
Of the 17 million, half of those consist of binge drinkers, and the study stated that college students spent $163 billion on alcohol. Broken down, that is an average $500 per student per year, or $42 a month. The research also reports that college students are drunk about 10.6 hours a week.
After her son searched for a university that had a sobriety program, which were available at only two Texas universities – Texas Tech and the University of Texas at Austin — Barbara Dwyer created Cougars in Recovery.
“I think those who admit that they drink minimized how much they drink when they’re completing surveys,” Dwyer said.
The goal of CIR is to support, enable and allow students to have a full college experience, including social activities on campus.
“A lot of the students at the University told me that if they have a large gap of time in between classes, they were leaving campus because they didn’t feel safe,” Dwyer said.
Dwyer believes that being on campus can be a toxic environment.
“We want to be a beacon of hope that is already on campus. (We want students to come and see) that our students are having fun, doing well at school and giving back to the community,” Dwyer said. “They’ll think, ‘This is amazing, I don’t have to drink and I can still have fun.’”
CIR-designated program director John Shiflet believe the statistics are close numbers.
“On the other hand, most of those statistics are taken from self-reports,” Shiflet said. “Sometimes, people don’t have a tendency to be completely honest. I feel like it could even be more than that.”
Psychology and nutrition senior Janelle Elias said those numbers were incredibly high.
“Then again, I’m not surprised,” Elias said. “It’s kind of like the American culture; if you’re not drinking, you’re not having fun.”
The study goes on to list the consequences of misuse of alcohol, which include assault, health problems, death, injury, crime and academic problems.
“Know your limit and always have a designated driver,” Elias said. “If you think one more drink is going to heighten the night, it’s not. You should call it a night, because ultimately your health is more important than that glass of beer. Just be health-conscious and safe if you are going to drink.”
When biology and political science senior Victor Esteves heard the stats, he was surprised but said they represent the college population he has been exposed to.
“I think that there’s a social aspect to college,” Esteves said. “The drinking part definitely attributes to the social experience of coming to college, going to parties, getting drunk with your friends.”
Esteves said although he has been around binge drinking, he himself has never binge-drunk.
“I guess I haven’t really found the need to drink alcohol to have fun,” Esteves said. “I’ve had drinks and I think they’re good, but feeling inebriated and not in control of my five senses, I’m far too much of a control freak to enjoy that kind of mental state.”
For more information about Cougars in Recovery, visit the uh.edu/cir.
