Project One

Lauryn Volner 

Professor Hammett 

English 1302 

Essay 1 Argument Proposal  

15 March 2024  

Word Count: 1197  

Binge Drinking in Young Adults 

Binge drinking has become a major social epidemic but how can someone with this issue find help?  Binge drinking is a problem that has now reached multiple age groups. Two major groups are teenagers in high school and college students. This epidemic can cause extreme consequences based on how the person deals with the issue. As a society, we must spread awareness and offer help to combat the issue of binge drinking. 

The first step to help prevent and aid someone who is potentially struggling with a binge drinking problem is to provide education. It is important to know the statistics and background of binge drinking and the ages it affects. For example, binge drinking has become a major problem for the student demographic. The CDC provides valuable information and statistics for different demographics and how they relate to binge drinking. “In 2011, the prevalence of current alcohol use and of binge drinking among high school girls in grades 9–12 was 37.9% and 19.8%” (Vital Signs).  The prominence of binge drinking continues to grow. To not only educate but an effort to prevent it, it should be talked about with younger students that are in high school and college. For example, one major problem is the long-term effects of binge drinking and the problems it can cause economically and socially. Education on topics can provide the person with deciding on their actions and provide support for those who are struggling.  A counterargument to providing a support seminar for high school students would be that the school is talking about The first step to help prevent and aid someone who is potentially struggling with a binge drinking problem is to provide education. It is important to know the statistics and background of binge drinking and the ages it affects. For example, binge drinking has become a major problem for the student demographic. The CDC provides valuable information and statistics for different demographics and how they relate to binge drinking. “In 2011, the prevalence of current alcohol use and of binge drinking among high school girls in grades 9–12 was 37.9% and 19.8%” (Vital Signs).  The prominence of binge drinking continues to grow. To not only educate but an effort to prevent it, it should be talked about with younger students that are in high school and college. For example, one major problem is the long-term effects of binge drinking and the problems it can cause economically and socially. Education on topics can provide the person with deciding on their actions and provide support for those who are struggling.  A counterargument to providing a support seminar for high school students would be that the school is talking about “inappropriate” topics with the students, and it is not their place to educate them about these types of subjects. Also, certain parents might argue that the school is glorifying binge drinking and giving the students ideas about the act of binge drinking.  The safety of students and the preservation of their minds and body should be a parent and faculty’s priority. Therefore, allowing students to learn about these issues can make them feel more comfortable about more mature topics and allow them to make more conscious decisions about their actions and the actions of others. It is dangerous to allow a child and/or student to go into their high school years uneducated about the party and drinking culture that surrounds them. 

To help stop the growth of binge drinking among young adults and students, adults must find out where and how the person obtains the drinks if they are under 21 years old. Many stores and people will purchase drinks for the younger generation. The CDC did a study on binge drinking among high school students where they provided statistics about how the students obtained alcohol. “High school students who drank usually obtained alcohol from others, but binge drinkers were three times more likely than current drinkers who did not binge drink to give others money to purchase alcohol for them.” (Esser 477) Not only do older students or merchants sell to underage people but parents also provide alcohol for them. Some parents believe that if they provide drinks for their children, they will be safer and more responsible. They use this to keep their kids' drinking habits under control.  This is potentially the start of an addiction. If a child’s parent provided alcohol to them, the child may begin to believe that the action is allowed, and they would not get punished. This is a dangerous habit for a young, impressionable person to think. However, if the parent believes that introducing their child to alcohol instead of the child figuring it out for themselves, they must do it in a safe and very regulated way. They also must be aware of the fact that it could jump-start their child into drinking which may spiral into binge-drinking.  

To fight this epidemic, we must try to prevent and potentially stop the culture of drinking from spreading throughout schools. This binge drinking culture is major in colleges, especially frat houses. A book by Hank Nuwer states that “Hazing occurs when a group perceived to have power over a newcomer requires someone to do any of the following...” ( Nuwer 35) The action of hazing usually involves individuals who are joining the frat house to indulge in extreme amounts of alcohol. These new joiners may not want to do these actions but because of peer pressure and fear of retaliation, they do them. These actions can potentially cause serious issues or even death. However, colleges often do not punish or even talk about the hazing that occurs. “In the United States, during much of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, in order to build school spirit many universities and their surrounding communities tolerated or even encouraged hazing so long as severe injuries or death occurred.” (Nuwer 37) This allows dangerous situations to occur and puts the students in danger. Not only is this extremely dangerous, but it can also kick-start a drinking addiction. Drinking to the extreme in college is incredibly normalized. To combat this, there should be disciplinary action against all students who are involved in a hazing problem. In addition, there should be a class the people take to learn about the harmful effects of hazing and binge drinking. This will be considered a punishment for them but also educates them about this issue. 

While education and lowering the production of underage drinkers may help prevent the problem of binge drinking, this issue may still be consistent. However, there are FDA approved medicines to help with a person’s dependency on alcohol. The National Library of Medicine has information on the drug Disulfiram on their website. This drug can cause several symptoms that cause drinking to be unenjoyable for the user. For example, it causes nausea, hypotension, and palpitations.  "This aggregation of symptoms is known as the disulfiram-alcohol reaction and discourages alcohol intake.” (Strokes) Sometimes people find it hard to resist the urges that they have. This can help the user take control because of the fear of the side effects the medication causes when drinking. This can push start their sobriety and help them get used to life without drinking. A counter would be that the medication could be expensive or that the person could just decide to stop taking it. However, the person prescribed this method could be involved in a group meeting, like Alcoholics Anonymous, but for other people taking the medication. This group could continue to meet weekly or twice a week and have journals of when the meds are taken and how much the person has drunk regularly throughout the process. It could also provide a certain amount of compensation to the patients to help them with the medication's price. 

To conclude the paper’s contents, binge drinking is a problem that many people suffer from, including younger students. To help prevent this problem from growing, there should be education available for the younger students and others that will find use in it. There are many ways to help a person suffering from this social epidemic and prevent it. There will always be an amount of people who cannot escape their problems with addiction. However, providing any kind of support can jump-start their fight against it. 

Works Cited

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). “Vital signs: binge drinking among women and high school girls—United States, 2011. “MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report vol. 62,1 (2013): 9-13  

Esser MB, Clayton H, Demissie Z, Kanny D, Brewer RD. Current and Binge Drinking Among High School Students — United States, 1991–2015. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2017;66:474–478. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6618a4external icon. 

Nuwer, Hank. Wrongs of Passage: Fraternities, Sororities, Hazing, and Binge Drinking. Indiana University Press, 2001, Google Books, https://books.google.com/books? id=lHM9ltEQIU0C&source=gbs_navlinks_s. 

Stokes M, Abdijadid S. Disulfiram. [Updated 2022 Oct 24]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK459340/