Having a good time with friends during spring break is one thing, but taking it to the next level by binge drinking can lead to life-threatening consequences.
Students are at risk for problematic alcohol use, with around 44 percent of college students engaging in heavy drinking during spring break, according to a study by the Department of Psychology at Wayne State University in Detroit in 2006.
“I understand that when students go to the beach with their friends they want to have fun, party and drink,†Stephanie Lusk, expert in substance use at the University of Arkansas, said. “They want to do these things because it’s a social perception caused by the media, movies and the way their friends behave on social media.â€
Even though students are going to engage in drinking, Lusk said they should drink in moderation instead of binge drinking, which is consuming an excessive amount of alcohol in a short period of time.
“Drinking is something these young adults do for fun, and that’s okay,†Lusk said. “But they have to keep it at moderate levels because if it becomes too extreme, it can get dangerous to the point of alcohol poisoning and even death.â€
Lusk said alcohol poisoning is not something to joke about, and if someone a student knows is experiencing it, they should immediately try to get help.
 “If someone thinks their friend is experiencing alcohol poisoning, they should seek immediate medical attention,†Lusk said. “There isn’t much one person should do, so they should try to get the other person to a hospital as soon as they possibly can.â€
Some beaches, like Panama City, have completely banned alcohol from being consumed on the beach. Lusk said even if beaches ban alcohol, students will find “creative ways†to drink on the beach.
“Whether they pre-game or find ways to hide it, students are going to drink if they want to drink,†Lusk said. “However, I think if beaches are going to ban alcohol, they should have stricter law enforcement on the beach at all times in case anything happens.â€
Faith Atherton, a sophomore at Jackson State Community College, has experienced getting too drunk on spring break for herself.
“I went to Panama City Beach with some of my friends last spring break, and things got a little bit out of hand,†Atherton said. “It was my birthday, so I went way overboard with my drinking, which caused me to get sick and not even remember the night at all.â€
Atherton said she was only at the beach for four nights, and two of the nights she spent binge drinking. She said she had never been that intoxicated before, and it was so bad she felt like she wasn’t going to wake up the next morning.
“I did drink a lot the first night, but the second night is when I got super blackout drunk,†Atherton said. “It was honestly not worth it at all, and I regret every single moment of it, not necessarily the drinking part, just the drinking to excess.â€
Atherton said if she could go back and do it all again, she wouldn’t have drank as much, and if she ever goes to the beach for spring break, she will probably only have one or two glasses per night.
“I’m not going to say I wouldn’t drink if I went to the beach again, I just wouldn’t drink as much,†Atherton said. “I mean drinking to excess seemed like a fun idea the first two nights, but it quite literally ruined the last two nights of my vacation for me.â€
