College Drinking

            College is a place where students can work hard and get a degree but it is also a place where many students choose to binge drink as well as drink underage. Some students forget that they are at college to do work and they let their drinking and partying interfere with their studies. Students who go too hard with the partying often find themselves on academic probation or even kicked out of school. Many students simply cannot balance partying and studying. Students who cannot handle alcohol often find themselves in trouble with the campus police or involved in altercations that result in judicial action.

            According to collegedrinkingprevention.gov twenty five percent of college students struggle with their academic performance. Students struggle by missing class, not going homework, and after a night of drinking students who do attend class often do not pay attention or struggle to remember what was discussed during class. I know several students who partied too hard first semester and then did not return second semester. I remember my parents always told me growing up that college can be the best four years of your life but if you screw up it can be the best three months of your life. Students who drink also tend to have police involvement according to collegedrinkingprevention.gov about 5 percent of college students are involved with campus police because of drinking and 110,000 students are arrested for an alcohol related violation. Students who drink also cause damage to the university and other students personal property. Eleven percent of college students report that they have damaged someone’s property while under the influence of alcohol.

            While partying at Plymouth State I see many students being destructive while under the influence of alcohol. I live in the Blair residence hall and I cannot even play pool because people have broken the pool sticks in half and people have stolen the pool balls. Last weekend someone actually threw a pool ball through the screen television that is in the basement of my dorm. The microwave in the common are of my dorm was also stolen last weekend as well as several pictures off of the wall. I do not know what people are doing with a giant Dalmatian picture but it has been missing from the Blair basement for a few weeks. The most outrageous thing that I have seen however happened this past weekend while I was on Russell st. I was walking with my friends on my way to a friend’s house when we noticed that there was a couch in the middle of the road that was smoking. Within seconds the couch went up in flames in the middle of the street. A Plymouth police officer soon showed up as well as the Plymouth fire department to extinguish the fire. I can only imagine that this fire was started by a couple drunk kids who thought it would be funny to commit arson. Students need to be more aware of the dangers of drinking and how drinking affects peoples lives.