Health Watch

Drinking on Campus: What Parents Should Know

By Barry Bergman

Immoderate drinking by classmates and roommates can lead to a host of troubles, even for clean-and-sober students.

Spring 2005 | Each year, newspaper headlines trumpet the deaths of college students due to alcohol poisoning and other extreme forms of excessive drinking. For the most part, though, college-age drinking is less sensational, and more pervasive, than these occasional headlines suggest.

Yet while drinking has long been a feature of the college social scene — at Berkeley as on campuses nationwide — Cal students also have ready access to an array of resources to help them navigate the social maze responsibly and successfully.

Dean of Students Karen Kenney wants parents to know that “we’re partners in their students’ experience,” and says parents can play a crucial role by helping students make informed decisions — a role that begins with communication. She advocates a three-pronged approach to combating alcohol abuse: prevention, education, and awareness of the consequences of out-of-control drinking.

“There are a lot of second-hand consequences we’re committed to avoiding,” observes Cathy Kodama, director of health promotion at the Tang Center, home of University Health Services. Beyond the direct impacts of abuse — such as alcohol poisoning from binge drinking, alcohol-fueled traffic accidents, and potentially severe sanctions from school and city authorities — immoderate drinking by classmates and roommates can lead to a host of troubles even for clean-and-sober students, from sexual abuse and robberies to interference with coursework.

Studies by Berkeley’s Prevention Research Center suggest that many students find these secondary impacts unacceptable, but they are often afraid to say so publicly. Similarly, notes Kenney, many would welcome tighter procedures and enforcement of campus drinking policies, but, mistakenly believing their peers are more tolerant of abuses, they fail to speak up.

In fact, Kenney adds, “Students think other students are drinking more than they’re actually drinking.”

Which is not to say there isn’t a problem. “We do see students who come here with alcohol-related problems already,” reports Kodama. More generally, there is “a cultural expectation that many students bring with them” of drinking as a required extracurricular activity.

“There’s this notion that everyone drinks, so I have to,” she says. “But it’s not so.” She advises parents to be aware that their college-age children will inevitably be exposed to alcohol, to discuss the choices they’ll be facing, and to help them find resources to cope — whether their students have a drinking problem themselves, have relatives with a history of substance abuse, or simply need guidance in handling a variety of social pressures to imbibe to excess.

Resources available through the Tang Center include counseling, prevention and education programs, support groups, medical treatment, and online links to information on drinking and drinking-related issues, from a “self-scoring alcohol check-up” to a primer on alcohol and sexual assault (see right). Students can also take advantage of B.E.A.R.S. — Berkeley Educates on Alcohol Responsibility Seminars — a peer education group run by fraternity and sorority members.

As members of a working group on alcohol abuse, Kenney and Kodama are currently putting together a package of proposals for a stepped-up attack on the problem, including a campuswide public information campaign. “We’re focused on making the campus environment safe and healthy,” Kodama explains. “Our goal is to encourage students to make intelligent choices.”

Meanwhile, Kenney cites evidence that the current generation of students, the so-called “millennials,” is “rebelling by being more responsible,” and views parents as “their No. 1 role model.”

With that in mind, she urges parents to keep the lines of communication open. “Communication is the key,” she says. “Don’t avoid the topic. Talk about it.”

Campus resources
Students have the following options to help them deal with alcohol-related issues:

Counseling: Specialists are available to talk to students about their own alcohol use or that of a friend or family member. For appointments, call 510/642-6074.

Medical help: To schedule an appointment with a clinician, call 510/642-2000.

Consultation: Confidential consultation/referral for students concerned about their own — or another’s — alcohol use. For an appointment or a phone consultation, call 510/642-6074.

Prevention and education programs: Call 510/642-7202 for information.

Online help: Visit www.uhs.berkeley.edu/students/medical/alcoholanddrugs.shtml.