For NCAAW, remember Parents, You’re Not Done Yet

In honor of National Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Week, we’d like to take a minute to speak to you, parents of college aged students, because you’re not done yet.

Despite having sent your kid to college, wherever they may be, they still need you. The first few months of college are incredibly vulnerable times at which college students drink underage, as evidenced by anecdotal data from the NIAAA.

In the first six weeks, first-semester freshmen often start drinking or increase the amount they drink, says Aaron White, Program Director of NIAAA’s College and Underage Drinking Prevention Research.

And what’s that? It’s October? Students are already adjusted to their college lifestyle and are doing fine without you?

Well, we’d like to also point out that Halloween is coming up. Remember Halloween and how much fun it was to let loose and dress up?

College students still are trying to do that, through alcohol consumption.  And, overconsumption is unsafe and any consumption for those under the age of 21 is illegal. So if there is a time to talk to college kids and see how they are doing, we’d like to suggest now.

Amidst all this, we would like to point out that progress is being made.

According to the most recent Monitoring the Future Study, college students who reported drinking in the past month decreased 16% proportionally, reported binge drinking decreased 17% proportionally and reported getting drunk in the past month decreased 5% proportionally, all from 1991 to 2014.

While this still means there is work to be done, again, we are making progress.

We like to think this is because of you parents and your conversations with your college-aged kids. Because, believe it or not, they do listen to you!

So as we prepare for National College Alcohol Awareness Week and approach Halloween, please remember Parents, You’re Not Done Yet.

Charles Paullin has been a Communications Associate with Responsibility.org since June of 2014. He loves the great outdoors when he gets an opportunity to experience them, especially with friends and family.