Campus life in America with an estimated 1400 college
students dying from alcohol related causes each year.
The temptation to fit in with the drinking culture that
is the accepted norm of campus life is great. Alcohol
and drugs are so much part of everyday life that College
kids partake with ease in the drinking rites that accompany
their college experience. College is often the first time
young adults truly experience freedom and consequence
of action is not necessarily first and foremost on the
minds of many young teens entering campus life for the
first time.
Since most kids have already been exposed to drugs and alcohol
during High School, many enter college with an already established
historyof addiction. Students with a history of addiction may have
a tough time with the culture and expectations of campus life which
encourage them to join inand do nothing to support any progress thay
may have made towards recovery from drug addiction.
A supported Campus life can provide these students with a
way to manage their addiction. Student counseling or attending
ongoing Alcohol Anonymous (AA) or Narcotics Anonymous (NA)
groups and meetings can provide invaluable support for kids wanting
to move beyond addiction. There are also Colleges that
specialize in drug rehabilitation offering a
supported college environment, curriculum and
vocational guidance in a drug free campus.
Support groups are an invaluable source of strength for
addicts who want to move forward. The commitment to get and
stay clean will in all liklihood be challenged many times over, especially
in a college environment, and that is why it is so
important to have an educational institution that supports
students with addiction issues. Family members and close friends
need support and a college of this nature can give everyone a much
needed break and time to heal themselves and get on with
their own often disrupted lives.
College students today are generally better educated about the
negative long term effects of drug and alcohol abuse on
mental and emotional health. Yet the pressures on them are
also greater and they are expected to participate in the accepted
culture of campus life which includes binge drinking and experimenting
with drugs.
For young adults whose lives have been destroyed by addiction,
the prevailing campus culture canbe a deterrent towards moving
forwards in their educational future. This can have a signicant impact
on students futures, leaving them more vulnerable to further drug use
and addiction, low self esteem and exacebating mental illness.
It's time the prevailing culture agknowledge the problems young
students face and encourage healthier and more constructive
campus culture.
