Social Culture in Campuses

The incidents of students making use of alcohol and abusing drugs have increased considerably over the years. This increase can be attributed to the established social culture in campuses, which encourage the consumption of these substances as a normal part of college life; leading to a situation where most students end up being convinced and pressured into substance abuse as a means of fitting in with their fellows (Duncan, Boisjoly, Kremer, Levy, & Eccles, 2005). Despite this being the case, alcohol consumption can be considered the most serious problems, because it involves a situation where students participate in binge drinking to such an extent that they end up having a considerable number of negative effects afterwards.

It is noteworthy to consider that some of these individuals have the potential of ending up having problems later in their lives, with these problems beginning to manifest in their early adulthood. The consequences of binge drinking can be quite detrimental to the personal health and social lives of these individuals (Courtney & Polich, 2009).

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For example, there is the potential that they might develop problems with sexual aggression, or even alcoholism later in their lives. It is also pertinent to note that there are individuals who, because of their binge drinking, lose focus on their academics, leading to poor academic performance. The influence of certain aspects of campus culture, such as home coming, and sororities and fraternities, result in the creation of an environment where behaviors such as excessive consumption of alcohol is looked upon as normal and an essential part of being in college (Cho & Lee, 2014).

However, while this may be the case, over the years, universities have sought to take action to ensure that there is the reduction of the negative aspects of alcohol and substance abuse on their campuses.

Among the most significant of these measures have been the social norm campaigns (Berkowitz, 2005), as well as the creation of alcohol and substance abuse education programs. Despite these measures being put in place, the literature concerning them suggests that they have not been as effective as expected. This is mainly based on the way that these interventions are received by the students (Pilling & Brannon, 2007). Thus, while most of the students get to learn more about the negative aspects of substance abuse and binge drinking, they often ignore the lessons they have learned because of the considerable influence of the prevalent culture on campuses. A result is that despite knowing the consequences of their actions, the pressure to conform to the dominant culture ends up outweighing their better judgment.

The increase in alcohol and substance abuse in universities is a matter that has to be taken seriously in order to combat it. This is mainly because it involves a situation where an entire generation of individuals is placed in danger of not being able to function normally once they leave their academic institutions and join the highly competitive globalized workforce. One of the most significant ways through which it can be possible to achieve the goal of bringing about an end to substance and alcohol abuse on campuses is through the direct intervention of the institutions themselves. The latter would be extremely pertinent because these institutions have the power to make sure that they control some of the activities of their students while they are on campus.

In addition to the provision of alcohol and substance abuse education, there is the need to make sure that there is the establishment of measures that discourage the abuse of the various substances on campus. Among the most pertinent measures that they can take is the development of new rules and regulations governing the conduct of students while on campus. These should be designed in such a way that ensures that students are not only forbidden to bring in alcohol and substances, but also allows the institution to take severe punishments for those students who violate these regulations.