And binge drinking dropped from 33 percent to 16 percent. But it took a long time to see this result and we are ever in danger of backsliding. Basically, colleges are only as good as the last party. Changing attitudes about what is acceptable behavior and what is not can work only if students are listening. Fostering an environment where students respect themselves and one another is well worth the effort because it provides the foundation for building campus communities whose members hear each other.
College students are smart.
With the right text and the right teacher, they can learn to recognize the role that alcohol abuse plays in compromising the quality of life in their dorms, on their campuses and in their neighborhoods. With the right guidance, they can turn a bad situation into a good one. That is what the task force hopes to do - develop a blueprint that shows young people on campuses around Boston how they can make their college years a fulfilling intellectual and personal experience without falling victim to the dark side of alcohol use and abuse. Bringing area schools together is another critical piece of the solution. Neither banning alcohol nor education will stop underage and binge drinking on campus.