Wechsler says semantics do not matter. Despite Wechsler's campaigns to publicize the prevalence of heavy drinking on college campuses, bingeing among the nation's students has actually gone up. Since Wechsler's first study, students have become increasingly polarized in their drinking habits. College campuses have seen fewer moderate drinkers and larger numbers of heavy bingers and abstainers. Binge drinking is partially a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Students end up drinking at higher levels because that's what they think their peers are doing.
National drinking patterns have flatlined, but our program has seen substantial drops in high-risk drinking rates. H. William DeJong, director of the Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention in Newton, Mass., is leading the charge for social norms research. The study has found that students consume an average of 3.35 drinks when they party, but believe that their peers have 6.54 drinks. The program has had particular success at UVA, where 18 students died in alcohol-related incidents between 1990 and 1998. It gives healthy, normal messages.