Fighting Back: Part 3a

ALCOHOL CAN BE DEADLY

Binge Drinking Is A Growing Problem, Despite Efforts To Teach Kids The Dangers

When kids drink alcohol, they usually don't sip a glass of wine with dinner
or have a social beer at a ballgame.

They drink to get drunk.

Youth binge drinking results in bad behavior, damages a person's health and
sometimes leads to tragedy.

It has been recognized as a severe problem both nationally and locally by
educators, law enforcement and parents.

A recent survey by the Jackson County Children's Services Coalition
reported alarming statistics for binge drinking, which the survey defined
as consuming at least five alcoholic beverages within a couple of hours.

Fifteen percent of sixth-graders and 54 percent of high school seniors in
Jackson County school districts reported binge drinking.

The Children's Services Coalition will target middle school children with
alcohol-education programs to prevent younger children from experimenting
with alcohol, said director Kathy Best.

"It's a bad pattern to start, especially in middle school," Best said. "The
older we can keep kids before they start drinking, the better decisions we
hope they'll make."

Funnels, beer bongs

Dr. Julie Teater, director of psychological services at Gulf Oaks Hospital
in Gulfport, said most kids don't realize the dangers of alcohol.

She said children can become addicted to alcohol more quickly than adults,
and added that she has treated children as young as 12 who are alcoholics.

Best said adolescent binge drinking appears to have become more common in
recent years. She said that kids are playing drinking games and using
devices, such as funnels or beer bongs, to help them drink massive amounts
quickly.

A beer bong allows a binge drinker to down a beer in a single swallow.
There are bongs available on the Internet capable of irrigating a partygoer
with more than a gallon of beer in one gulp.

Best said high school students have told her that the conversation in their
school lunchrooms is often centered on developing plans to get wasted on
the weekend.

A pair of female Biloxi High School seniors said their weekend social
schedules often revolve around drinking at parties with friends.

Their eyes brightened as they spoke of using fake IDs to purchase alcohol.

One of the students said she prefers drinking Smirnoff Ice, a malt beverage
characterized by a sweet flavor.

"It's so good," she said, drawing a sideways glance from a nearby male student.

"That's girl stuff," he said. "I drink beer."

Teater said she has worked with teen-agers who admitted to drinking a case
of beer a day.

College keg parties

While binge drinking begins in middle schools and high schools, it
flourishes in the party culture that surrounds many college campuses.

A 2001 study by the Harvard School of Public Health reported that about 44
percent of college students binge drink.

In the late 1990s the highly publicized drinking deaths of students at
Louisiana State University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
motivated college administrators across the country to combat binge drinking.

Eddie Holloway, dean of students at the University of Southern Mississippi,
said the school has developed a complex program to educate and sanction
underage students caught with alcohol.

The sale and consumption of alcohol is banned on USM's campus, according to
school policy.

Holloway said students who are cited for alcohol violations are subject to
fines and a mandatory alcohol assessment at the university's counseling
center. School officials also call their parents.

USM offers an alcohol education class that students can take for one hour
of academic credit. The class, called On Campus Talking About Alcohol, is
mandatory for students joining fraternities and sororities and for student
athletes.

The school's Interfraternity Council and Panhellenic Council have adopted
positions opposing the misuse of alcohol and maintain that all chapters
abide by school and state regulations concerning alcohol.

Despite these programs and precautions, underage and binge drinking occurs
at USM.

Freshman Phillip Johnson, 18, said Thursday night is party night, when
fraternity row is alive with keg parties.

Jess Smith, 18, also a freshman, grinned as he reflected on the Thursday
party scene and a recent game of beer pong, a game where the loser must
drain a cup of beer.

"You win. You lose, but you can't really lose," Smith said.

During his first month in college, Smith said he saw a few people vomit
from drinking too much.

Both students said their friends who choose not to drink are treated
respectfully and provided nonalcoholic drinks at frat parties.

Johnson said students usually don't bring alcohol into the dormitory.

"You could probably sneak it in pretty easily, but there are plenty of
other places to go to drink," he said, as he puffed on a cigarette.

As vice chairman and an organizer of the Long Beach Drug Task Force, Fred
Walker works to help kids in his community make good decisions about alcohol.

Walker's son recently started his freshman year at USM and Walker said
there is not much he can do as a parent to protect his child in the college
environment.

"You pray a lot," he said. "You hope that through 18 years you have done
everything you can do to help them make good choices."

Alcohol and kids

More children abuse alcohol than any other drug. Statistics show:

. Children under the age of 21 drink 25 percent of the alcohol consumed in
the United States.

. Each year about 3.3 million students between the ages of 12 and 17 start
drinking.

. In 1999, 41.6 percent of 12th-graders admitted to binge drinking in the
last 30 days.

. Nationwide, 40.6 percent of ninth-graders, 49.7 percent of 10th-graders,
50.9 percent of 11th-graders and 61.7 percent of 12th-graders report
current use of alcohol.

. Teen heavy drinkers are almost twice as likely as nondrinkers to say
their schoolwork is poor (49.2 percent versus. 27.5 percent) and more than
five times more likely to cut class or skip school (54.7 percent versus.
9.9 percent).

. By 12th-grade, up to 81 percent of teens have tried alcohol, compared to
the 70 percent who have smoked cigarettes and 47 percent who have used
marijuana.

. Teens drink less often than adults, but are more inclined to drink larger
amounts at any one time.

. High school students who drink or abuse other drugs are five times more
likely to drop out of school than nonusers.

- - "Teen Tipplers: America's Underage Drinking Epidemic,"

a study by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Colombia
University.Alcohol can kill

Alcohol can be a poison and drinking too much of it at one time can be deadly.

Critical signs of alcohol poisoning:

Mental confusion, stupor, coma, or inability to be roused.

Vomiting.

Seizures.

Slow breathing (fewer than eight breaths a minute).

Irregular breathing (10 seconds or more between breaths).

Hypothermia (low body temperature), bluish skin color, paleness.

Know the danger signals.

Do not wait for all symptoms to be present.

Be aware that a person who has passed out could die.

If there is any suspicion of an alcohol overdose, call 911 for help. Don't
try to guess the person's level of drunkenness.

What can happen to someone with alcohol poisoning who is left untreated?
Victim chokes on his or her own vomit.

Breathing slows, becomes irregular or stops.

Heart beats irregularly or stops.

Hypothermia (low body temperature).

Hypoglycemia (too little blood sugar), leads to seizures.

Untreated severe dehydration from vomiting can cause seizures, permanent
brain damage, or death.

- - www.collegedrinkingprevention.govCollege binge drinking

The consequences of underage drinking affect nearly all colleges in the
United States. Some statistics:

Deaths: 1,400 college students between the ages of 18 and 24 die each year
from alcohol-related unintentional injuries, including car accidents.

Assaults: More than 600,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are
assaulted each year by another student who has been drinking.

Sexual abuse: More than 70,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are
victims each year of alcohol-related sexual assault or date rape.

Unsafe sex: More than 100,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 report
each year having been too intoxicated to know if they consented to having sex.

Academic problems: About 25 percent of college students report academic
consequences as a result of drinking, including missing class, doing poorly
on exams and papers, and achieving lower grades overall.

- - Statistics compiled by the National Institute of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse