What KILLS 1400 college students every year?

[Deb in IA]

Alcohol, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

Just this past weekend, Samantha Spady, 19, honors student, homecoming queen, class president, and captain of the cheerleading squad, and a sophomore at Colorado State University was found dead in an unused room at a fraternity. Her blood alcohol level was 0.43, more than 5 times the legal driving limit in Colorado.

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/US/Living/student_drinking_040908-1.html

1400 per year. So many talented young lives gone . . .

 

[Serena]

 

[I_Know_You2!]

What a shame!

 

[DisneyAddict_M]

That's so sad. No wonder my parents wouldn't let me go away to college.

 

[cats7494]

That is really sad...I remember my college days and - boy some people just drank every day! I always thought they were nuts!

 

[Deb in IA]

I see that we are just down I-380 from you, cats7494!!

I posted this as many young people are headed back to college. Please be careful, and be responsible.

 

[DukeStreetKing]

Wow, I would never have guessed such a high number if someone had asked me.

That's more people in a year than have been killed in the war. Hmmm, yet nobody seems to make such a big deal out of it.

 

[Beauty]

Wow! Thats a huge number and really

 

[Capt. Barbosa]

At that age you always think your 10 foot tall and bulletproof

 

[mrsltg]

Maybe if we didn't make alcohol such a mystery this wouldn't happen. This is the one and only time I think that France has it right...

My dd is 3.5 and she's given a few tablespoons of wine when I have wine with dinner. Alcohol is no big deal to her, and I'd like it stay that way. I was raised like this and I never felt the urge to get drunk for the sake of getting drunk.

The way we're going now with kids is definitely not working....

Erin

 

[hercamore]

This stat really upsets me as I have two in college. One junior at UMTC and one grad student at Michigan State.

Both stay away from the party scene and actually have found serious boyfriend/girlfriends that do not drink. I am so grateful for that. I hope this continues.

DD hated her freshman year at the dorm. Her neighbors came home nearly every other night drunk at 2 a.m. in the morning and then starting with the dope and the smell dripfted in her room and down the hall. DD's clothes used to stink as smell permeated her closet. No one cared, but her.

She is much happier and my son was much happier the minute they moved off campus.

Where are these students getting the money to buy alcohol regulary? School is so expensive. Students are always complaning about tuition rates, etc. I don't understand. How do students get any decent grades at al when they party so much.

herc.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

Hmmm, yet nobody seems to make such a big deal out of it.

when I was in college a very big deal was made of it. I wouldn't be surprised to see this fraternity suffering harsh penalties for having this happen to an underage student at their house.

yep - 10 foot tall and bullet proof about covers it.

 

[Twinkles6892]

Our health teacher beat us over the heads with that number today. Almost 40 minutes was spent talking about not drinking until your 21 and in moderation then. I'm serious, if he had a big sign that said "Don't drink" he seriously would have been hitting us with it.

 

[tiggerlover]

So sad.

 

[Deb in IA]

Originally posted by DukeStreetKing
Wow, I would never have guessed such a high number if someone had asked me.

That's more people in a year than have been killed in the war. Hmmm, yet nobody seems to make such a big deal out of it.

Yes, that is what struck me too, Duke.

Please, those of you in college, and parents of college-aged kids . . . be careful, and be responsible.

 

[KarenC]

I believe the statistics show that more and more college students are making the choice not to drink. Unfortunately, among those that do, binge drinking is on the rise.

There was a high school party broken up in a nearby community last year. The fact that there was a party made the news. Police gave everyone there breathalyzer tests. What I found astounding was that only 15 of 60 kids at the party had been drinking.

My frustration is that college campuses have not caught up with this change. They all turn a blind eye to the parties that go on, even in the freshman dorms. There aren't enough opportunities for kids who don't drink to find something to do on the weekends, at least at first. Many of my friends at work have kids the same age as mine, who also have made the choice not to drink. They are all sitting alone in their rooms on Friday and Saturday night, miserable as can be. Someone needs to get these kids together for some activity...a Catch Phrase night...popcorn and movies...whatever...so they don't end up making bad choices.

 

[theSurlyMermaid]

I never knew anyone who got alcohol poisoning, but I'll never forget this one night where one guy drank 25 beers. 25!!!!

The college I attended was purposefully built in the middle of nowhere so students wouldn't succumb to the temptations of a city. That really backfired. The only thing there was to do around campus was drink and have sex. I managed to remain fairly angelic, but the group I hung around certainly wasn't.

It's so funny how cool everyone thought they were in college, but that type of behavior just kinda settled in as everyone became an adult. I don't even mean they all became alcoholics either. What most of them became was fat, out of shape, couch potatoes who look way older than they should.