Binge Drinking among Students - Essay Example

? An Intervention to Reduce Binge Drinking Introduction Binge drinking among involves individual getting intothe habit of drinking a lot of alcohol for a few days and results in the absconding of their class work, ignorance of their responsibilities, misuse of finances and indulgence in risky behaviors such as fighting and unprotected sex (Watson, 2012). Binge drinking has become a major problem in both sexes among the young people found in London. The following is an intervention that I have developed as a health psychologist is aimed at curbing or rather reducing the levels of binge drinking among the youth in London (Hales, 2011). The habit involves the students who often become drunkards over certain periods of time and do not do their responsibilities (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2012). Previous researchers in a recent study carried out in Sweden who have dwelt on the issue suggested that binge drinking involved the consumption of two or more bottles of wine at one sitting on the same occasion. However, in Britain and the entire United Kingdom, binge drinking is referred to as the act of drinking eleven or more drinks during a single occasion (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2012). Reports by Watson (2012) indicate that the issue of binge drinking had been on the increase in the past, but has been on the decline among senior students in high schools from the years 1983 to 2003. The reports indicate that the issue of binge drinking has declined from about 41% to 27% between the stated periods of. The total proportion of students who had opted to refrain from the habit had also increased over the time by nearly 22% of the students who were previously drinking (Hales, 2011). Young students tend to believe that by joining the institutions of higher learning, they join the older students who usually indulge in binge drinking. They adopt the habit so that they may conform to their new environments (Hanson, Venturelli & Fleckenstein, 2011). Therefore, this implies that there is a great need for coming up with an intervention to curb these misperceptions among the students. Through the intervention, the cycle of alcohol abuse that exists among the youth will be broken and they will be helped in building and fulfilling their career goals (Watson, 2012). Despite the recent decrease in the rates of students who indulge in binge drinking, there are still a great number of them who continue with the habit. The problem of binge drinking among the youth has been worsened by the people who exaggerate the problem and its magnitude (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2012). In order to correct this situation, the correct and accurate facts require to be made public so as to correct the already damaged misperceptions (Kay & Schwartz, 2011). Such a move will enable the students to make appropriate personal decisions concerning whether they should indulge in the act of drinking alcohol or should they abstain completely. Binge drinking is usually associated to numerous social harms that the youths encounter, monetary along with increased burdens of disease (White & Rabiner, 2011). The habit is more commonly found in males who are just entering the adolescent stage along with young adulthood. The problem is normally associated with cardiac, neurologic, gastrointestinal, immune and psychiatric disorders among the youth (Hanson, Venturelli & Fleckenstein, 2011). The act of binge drinking among adolescents is associated to the accidents, violent acts and suicidal acts that they indulge in. Research indicates that the more a young person indulges in binge drinking, the more likely he is to become an alcoholic in the future (White & Rabiner, 2011). There are also other pieces of evidence previously documented that indicate that the youth who indulge in binge drinking also consume other psychotropic items (Tischler, 2010). The habit has the tendency of bringing faster damage to the brain as a result of the neurotoxin consequences arising from the repeated withdrawal outcomes. Binge drinking brings immediate and repeated effects of withdrawal on the victims (Hales, 2011). Previous literature additionally indicates that female students who might get pregnant from their indulgence in binge drinking and continue with the habit during their pregnancy are very likely to encounter high risks of stillbirths (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2012). The habit is also associated with other health complications such as strokes, sudden death along with other cardiovascular issues (Watson, 2012). The intervention that I intend to develop to curb the problem of binge drinking involves society trials that will be aimed at reducing this type of drinking among the youth in London. The intervention comprises of a multicomponent program that is based on the community and is developed for the purpose of altering the patterns of alcohol use among the youth. The program will use a variety of interventions that aim at improving the community awareness of the problem, prevention of underage access to alcohol by underage people and community mobilization. The program will mainly be aimed at reducing the various types of accidents that the youth are engaged in due to the act, violence along with the resultant injuries they obtain. This program will benefit the youth through an increase in the enforcement of laws regarding drinking along with driving and government in formulating responsible policies for the sale and service of alcoholic beverages to the youth. The intervention program will be aimed at addressing the issue of binge drinking across the youth in the urban, rural and suburban settings who have many differences in cultures, knowledge and races (Hales, 2011). Intervention Study Design of the Study The intervention program will be directed to the male and female youth within London who are indulging or have already got themselves into the habit of binge drinking. The program will involve the community members in utilizing the most appropriate and desired prevention measures that will ensure the attainment of the desired results within the community of London. It will use preventive measures such as regulating access to alcohol, ensuring responsible beverage services, enlightening the youth on the problems associated to driving and driving, access to alcohol to underage members of the society and mobilizing of the community members. The program aims at creating zones and regulations for the purpose of restricting access to alcohol from the various outlets found within the city while training and testing servers in order to reduce the intoxications gotten from their drinks. It will also dwell on increasing the checkpoints for confirming sobriety among youthful drivers through various rigorous law enforcement policies. The program will go further to train alcohol sellers not to deal with juniors in the course of performing their business. Finally, the community members will be availed with the appropriate tools and technology required to successfully implement the above requirements. The program’s implementation will require a close working relationship built on trust with members of the community in London to ensure it is a success. Study Participants The study will involve the youths living in London and aged between sixteen and thirty five years. The samples of students who will be studied are those who have joined university or other institutions of higher learning. The sample students will be picked from any race and gender and the sampling methods utilized will be the random sampling methods. The random samples will additionally be picked from universities and colleges around the city by visiting the colleges when the students are free and various popular drinking spots for the students. The students who will be excluded from the study will include those enrolled for the adult learning programs who will be assumed to be knowledgeable on the problems associated with the issue. Ethical Considerations The study will consider the various types of harm that can occur in populations that are socially identifiable due to their participation in the implementation of the intervention. More stringent measures will be applied to the participating communities directly so as to minimize the dangers that might arise due to the youth’s participation in the intervention. The intervention will also consider the different cultural beliefs and experiences of the youths who are meant to benefit under the program. This is because certain cultures tend to allow the indulgence of their youth in drinking of alcohol whereas others perceive their indulgence to be morally wrong. All these considerations will be vital in ensuring that the objectives of the intervention are adequately achieved. The Chosen Intervention The intervention chosen will involve the members of the London community in employing the most appropriate prevention measures for ensuring the youths abstain from binge drinking within city of London (Hales, 2011). It will apply several preventive measures such as regulation of the access to alcohol among the youth, employing responsible beverage services and enlightening the city’s youth on the problems associated to driving while drunk (Kay & Schwartz, 2011). It will also limit the underage members of the society access to alcohol while mobilizing of the community members to report any deviations in the measures to the local authorities. The intervention program will create zones along with regulations for restricting access to alcohol from the outlets found within the city while providing training along with the testing of servers in order to reduce the intoxications among the youths. It will additionally dwell on augmenting the checkpoints for checking sobriety levels among youth drivers through various law enforcing policies. The intervention will also aim at training and increasing awareness among the alcohol sellers not to sell to the youths while conducting their daily business. Finally, the society members will be given the required tools along with technology required in successfully implementing the intervention program. The intervention requires a close working relationship that is built on trust among the members of the London society to ensure it becomes a success Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the Intervention The study population will be scrutinized in order to access the levels of success for the intervention. The study population will be evaluated in terms of the various traffic accidents they have been involved in as a result of binge drinking and the society’s ability of reporting incidences of young drivers who are drunk and driving carelessly (Watson, 2012). Surveys will be carried out on the regularity of patrons who are intoxicated selling alcohol to underage youths along with coverage on the reported cases of alcohol abuse in the media. These measures will all help in determining how efficient the intervention program is among the targeted population. Conclusion The intervention measure to reduce binge drinking will be beneficial to the youths and the entire country at large since it will help in reducing the crime rates while increasing the residents’ safety (Hammersley, 2008). It will help the country in increasing their productivity since a large part of the population that was sitting idle while indulging in drinking will be involved in more beneficial economic activities. The intervention will be costly to the taxpayers as a result of the training programs incorporated, but will outweigh them through the benefits that will be reaped from rehabilitating their youth. References Biglan, A., Brennan, P. A. & Foster, S. L. (2005). Helping Adolescents at Risk: Prevention of Multiple Problem Behaviors. New York: Guilford Press. Hales, D. (2011). An Invitation To Health; Choosing To Change, London: Cengage Learning. Hammersley, R. (2008). Drugs and Crime. New York: Polity. Hanson, G. R., Venturelli, P. J. & Fleckenstein, A. E. (2011). Drugs and Society. New York: Jones & Bartlett Publishers. Kail, R. V. & Cavanaugh, J. C. (2012). Human Development: A Life-Span View. London: Cengage Learning. Kay, J. & Schwartz, V. (2011). Mental Health in the College Community. London: John Wiley & Sons. Tischler, H. L. (2010). Introduction to Sociology. London: Cengage Learning. Watson, S. (2012). Binge Drinking. New York: ABDO Publishers. White, H. R., Rabiner, D. L. (2011). College Drinking and Drug Use. New York: Guilford Press. Youngerman, B. & Kittleson, M. J. (2005). The Truth about Alcohol. New York: InfoBase Publishing. Read More