three ideas for making college drinking habits healthier
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THREE TESTS FOR MAKING COLLEGE DRINKING HABITS HEALTHIER
BENJY MERCER-GOLDEN STANFORD UNIVERSITY [email protected]
MY GOAL
To persuade Stanford freshmen to not engage in binge drinking behavior1 on the weekends.
1 As defined by the U.S. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism: “A pattern of alcohol consumption that brings the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to .08% or more. This pattern usually corresponds to 5 or more drinks on a single occasion for men or 4 or more drinks on a single occasion for women, generally within about 2 hours.”
WHY?"THIS IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE…
Lessening alcohol intake for college students can have enormous benefits to academic, social, physical & psychological health.
THREE TESTS I ran three basic “tests” on college students to get them to do three positive behaviors that I hypothesized would help accomplish my goal:
I. Parents talk on the phone (or in person) with their (college student) child about drinking habits.
II. Host a non-drinking social event off campus with students who frequently binge drink.
III. Re-Watch “AlcoholEdu” video module and seriously discuss it in small group setting.
I. PARENT-CHILD CONVERSATION
THE TEST • Four separate mothers talked with their child (three sons, one
daughter) about drinking habits during Thanksgiving break
• Three children were freshmen in college, one sophomore
• No structure for the conversation, no scripted questions, no “goals”
• One requirement: parent had to explicitly say there was no “judgment or punishments” that would come from the talk
MY BIG TAKEAWAY
What few people realize is that…
College students drink more—and will be more honest about their drinking habits—than their parents thought.
WHAT I LEARNED
I know this because…
• In follow-up conversations with me, each parent said their child drinks more than they imagined but was also pleasantly surprised by how open (and willing to listen/discuss) their kids were.
• Students were not drinking more on average than their peers. Therefore parents surprised by drinking norms rather than their own child’s drinking.
II. SOBER EVENT
THE TEST
• Host a dinner party for 18 college students
• All of these college students drink regularly, including binge drinking
• No alcohol served before, during or after
MY BIG TAKEAWAY
What few people realize is that…
In the right context, it can seem normal to not serve alcohol at an event for heavy-drinking college students.
WHAT I LEARNED
I know this because…
• Taking people away from their normal environment (an on-campus party, likely at a fraternity) removes the expectation of drinking.
• No one expected to drink (or asked to drink) at the dinner party.
• Multiple people commented on the delight of not drinking for a night.
• Overwhelming positive feedback: People had just as much fun without drinking
III. RE-WATCH ALCOHOL EDU "VIDEO & DISCUSS
THE TEST • Play a three-minute clip from the AlcoholEdu program for a
group of three or four college students (students have already done program before they came to college)
• Have a 10-minute conversation between the students in response to the video
• Prompt: “Did the video get you thinking about your own drinking habits?
MY BIG TAKEAWAY
What few people realize is that…
Even things students view as useless (like a boring Alcohol Edu program) can be triggers to effective, casual conversations.
WHAT I LEARNED
I know this because…
• Everyone hates AlcoholEdu. Period. This trial confirmed that sentiment.
• Students are unwilling to admit they learned much from it.
• But in conversations afterwards, students talked openly and honestly, admitted to being unhappy with their (excess) drinking habits, wished for alternative activities, etc.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I. Parents can be a really effective voice in limiting binge drinking. Parent-child conversations can be open, honest and productive.
II. It’s really not that hard to organize social events for college students that don’t involve drinking. And they can be just as fun.
III. The trigger really doesn’t matter, but getting spontaneous conversations to happen about drinking habits is important.
