Alcohol free since 1979!

Just read a great article over at Kent Shaffer’s blog, CHURCH RELEVANCE.

Here’s the information:

The University of Texas at Austin spent four years studying the drinking habits of 2,200 college students. Using a smaller sample of students, they focused part of their study on how students celebrate their 21st birthday. Astonishingly, 98.7% of college students drank alcohol to celebrate their 21st birthday.

Side Effects of a 21st Birthday

* 78% had ill effects
* 54% got a hangover
* 44% had a blackout
* 39% did not know how they got home
* 34% threw up
* 26% suffered embarrassment
* 22% found out later that they had sex
* 22% got in a fight or argument
* 16% had to miss school, work, or another obligation on the next day

And it is not just binge drinking (defined as 4-5 drinks). Many students are pushing their physical limits to over 20 drinks, an excess that researchers feel is too gluttonous to be only labeled as binging.

Binge drinking sets a lower threshold than what we’re talking about. We’re saying this is more than four or five drinks. Here it’s people having 10 or 20 drinks. Obviously, binge is a bad thing, but it’s not capturing the high end of drinking we’re interested in characterizing here.

One of the things that really struck us is not only that they’re drinking a hell of a lot but about half of participants were drinking not only more on that night, but they’re drinking more than ever in their lifetime. They’re putting in their lifetime maximum number of drinks in that 24-hour period of their birthday celebration.
– Kenneth Sher :: Professor of Psychology :: University of Missouri

Studies show that between 12% to 34% of students consume 21+ drinks on their 21st birthday. If you minister to college students, realize that their drinking problems may be worse than you thought.