Binge Drinking Must be Stopped Essay

The article Binge Drinking Must be Stopped written by, Harvard University lecturer and principal investigator of the College Alcohol Study, Henry Wechsler is primarily a study about alcohol drinking in American colleges. Wechsler argues that drink bingeing is highly common in the colleges of America. He says that â€Å"binge drinking is a reality of college life in America and perhaps the central focus of fraternity-house life. † This is deemed to be true by Wechsler because of; (1) the administrator’s lack of knowledge about this issue of college alcohol bingeing, (2) the adaptation of colleges to the culture of college drinking, (3) the lack of continuity in the programs provided and (4) and implementations of policies imposed on colleges are not monitored effectively. Wechsler says that the culture of American colleges, while entangled with a reputation of widespread alcoholic drinking, does not alarm college administrators for they claim complete unawareness to the current situation of the alcohol issues within their students. Wechsler, being a prominent staff in the Harvard School of Public Health, reports that the department has exhausted its effort in getting feedback from the school administrators. However, he insinuates that there can be no reason to be completely blanked out in the issue of drinking situation. He supports this through various circumstances where people can easily witness the reality of college life and drink bingeing. One instance that Wechsler contributes where the scenario of heavy drinking in colleges can be observed is through the weeknight rounds of security vans monitoring places where they often get hold of worn out students from parties. Another, he says, is through the response of freshmen students on their knowledge of this alcohol bingeing college lifestyle despite of their just recent arrival to the university. Wechsler then argues that if security personnel and freshmen can easily become aware of this then there can be no reason for college administrators to be completely unwary of the situation. He adds that the problem is rooted from the grassroots themselves, who are the students, and the superior officers, who are the school administrators and the local officials. Just like any other person struggling with alcohol, Wechsler asserts that students should be reminded that excessive drinking is a problem and that although it is quite common in college, it can never mean that it is acceptable. School administrators, on the other hand, including college superiors and dorm supervisors should fulfill their responsibilities in watching the students over. Wechsler complains that school administrators are lenient in permitting their students in conducting activities which overtly promotes drink bingeing. Also, Wechsler advises that regulations on drinking should be heavily imposed and not neglected. He says that â€Å"it is easy to say there is no drinking allowed in a dormitory or a fraternity, but enforcement is necessary to put the policy into effect. † Wechsler then asserts that this not a new issue in America thus there is a great need for everyone to address it. â€Å"This is no longer a time merely to form a committee to study the situation,† he says. Now, Wechsler suggests that everyone participate in eradicating this issue within American colleges from the school administrators, the fraternity and sorority systems, the community officials, the parents of the students, and the students themselves.