The University of Texas at Austin spent four years studying the drinking habits of 2,200 college students. Using a smaller sample of students, they focused part of their study on how students celebrate their 21st birthday. Astonishingly, 98.7% of college students drank alcohol to celebrate their 21st birthday.
Side Effects of a 21st Birthday
- 78% had ill effects
- 54% got a hangover
- 44% had a blackout
- 39% did not know how they got home
- 34% threw up
- 26% suffered embarrassment
- 22% found out later that they had sex
- 22% got in a fight or argument
- 16% had to miss school, work, or another obligation on the next day
And it is not just binge drinking (defined as 4-5 drinks). Many students are pushing their physical limits to over 20 drinks, an excess that researchers feel is too gluttonous to be only labeled as binging.
Binge drinking sets a lower threshold than what we’re talking about. We’re saying this is more than four or five drinks. Here it’s people having 10 or 20 drinks. Obviously, binge is a bad thing, but it’s not capturing the high end of drinking we’re interested in characterizing here.
One of the things that really struck us is not only that they’re drinking a hell of a lot but about half of participants were drinking not only more on that night, but they’re drinking more than ever in their lifetime. They’re putting in their lifetime maximum number of drinks in that 24-hour period of their birthday celebration.
- Kenneth Sher :: Professor of Psychology :: University of Missouri
Studies show that between 12% to 34% of students consume 21+ drinks on their 21st birthday. If you minister to college students, realize that their drinking problems may be worse than you thought.
For Discussion:
I understand that some theology condemns all drinking and some says that drinking without getting drunk is fine. Clearly, in this situation, the students are getting drunk.
- What are some effective ministry methods to help students overcome the temptation to drink too much or even drink at all?
(please keep the discussion on methods and not dogma)
[...] // Interesting statistics on birthday “celebrations” for 21 year olds - HERE [...]
As someone who just got out of college a little over a year ago, and someone who became a Christian and was compelled by grace of God to turn back from my college days of binge drinking and drugs I may not have a solution, but I do have something to add to the discussion.
It’s all about over-indulgence. Nothing is ever enough anymore, always instant gratification, blatant cries for attention and finding easy way to do things. Most college students arn’t drinking a beer for the taste, or having a glass of wine to relax. They are taking shots and shotgunning beers to get drunk as fast as they can, they are drinking to get drunk, rather than casually drinking to take a little load off on a Satuday night and have a few giggles and some tastefully adventurous memories with a few close friends.
I think the real question here is how can we get people to find good solid friends (in the Christian world we know that as fellowship) that they enjoy so much that they don’t need to be black out drunk to have fun.
How can we help create constructive, people loving college communities?
I wonder what subverting the culture with Jesus would do to the systemic problem Elyse is talking about?
Part of me wonders if “ministries” are best suited as a beacon for those whom have hit bottom, but do little-to-nothing to bring salt and light into the building problems. By separating ourselves off to the side under the banner of “ministries,” I just wonder if that is really an authentic way of doing what Jesus did to the nonsense going on in his days on earth?
The kids growing up in the house church network I’m part of don’t know what “going to church” means. Church, to them, is people, or a verb. Church is not a building or an event or a program or an organization. I wonder what will happen when these kids get to college, and bring salt and light right into the center of their cultures.
I tend to believe that imperfect community in the most ordinary, everyday way is the best remedy for communicating the authentic, real love of God through Jesus.
Thanks for these sobering thoughts - no pun intended, really - I think both comments are right on - we need to build relationships that help hold each other accountable. Ministries should first be about building relationships, then inviting people into ministry. Through those ministries we can build real, deep, meaningful friendships and find ways to celebrate life without falling into cultural traps like this.
I’m guessing (although I can’t say from personal experience) that nobody at all enjoys the fact that they blacked out the day after the fact. Yet, for some strange reason, knowing the consequences, people do it again and again.
Let’s build relationships - and if someone does happen to black out, let’s pull them out of the alley, bring them home, clean them up, then encourage a different way to have fun.
I think you can approach it in one (or both) of two ways: as a sin issue, and as a safety/well-being issue.
Many programs approach it from the safety angle, which will be a great benefit to the student if it’s effective. But it won’t be totally effective because the drinking is only a symptom.
The real problem is that we all trust our own judgment too much, and (usually) think we know better than other Christians, and (usually) act like we know better than God.
But we can’t just approach from the sin angle, because we’ll just drive people away - if anyone actually hears us - like a street preacher at Mardi Gras.
I’m partially with Dan, though I think there’s a need for formal ministries. The members of those ministries need to be willing to act on their mission statements without the need for an organized event.
[...] up, Church Relevance reports on a University of Texas 4-year study on the alcohol consumed by college students on the occasion [...]
Great Article. I lead a para-church ministry for college students and young adults and see a lot of this first hand. I appreciate your challenge to approach this in a non-dogmatic fashion.
When I talk with students about the binge factor, the reason that many of them partake in this overindulgence is generally not the reasons the “church” expects and tries to address.
The two things I hear from people participating and trying to figure out how to get handle on this are:
1. There’s nothing to do. (not a cop out as far as i’m concerned)
2. They are part of a community (largest community in the college scene.)
There are some great college ministries around the nation, usually in metro areas lead by large churches who can financially back staff and relevant ministry outreach, but as a whole the college crowd is the pretty low on the priority of the food chain of church structure.
Louie Giglio and 268generation have done a amazing job of raising the awareness that this is where we as a church are losing people by the droves. There are many communities that are starting to get this.
I would love to see the church as a whole begin to start a more focused Kingdom effort to embrace the college culture a to begin creating community atmospheres which provide opportunity to be part of something bigger and better than the party scene which is no easy task.