New legal drinkers informed of dangers

Students turning 21 have started getting an additional birthday present starting this year — a postcard to their parents talking about the dangers of alcohol poisoning.

In response to an 82 percent rise in alcohol poisoning cases from the 2007-08 school year to last year, the Dean of Students Office is sending letters to the parents of students turning 21 to encourage them to advise their children to drink responsibly.

Dean Blackburn, assistant dean of students, said the campaign is aimed at stopping students from taking 21 shots on their 21st birthday and other high-risk drinking.

With 36 bars in a one-mile radius of campus, Blackburn said he thinks this is a serious problem.

“Depending on the person, it could very well be death. It could be coma,” he said, referring to the intake of 21 shots.

Eric Smith, a health educator at Campus Health Services, believes the current generation of college students is more likely to heed their parents’ advice. He thinks raising awareness in both parents and students about alcohol poisoning will be effective.

“Most of the students turning 21 now are in the ‘Millennial’ generation, and a lot of research is showing that these students talk to their parents a lot,” he said.

The light-blue postcards tell parents to urge their children to celebrate their 21st birthdays with alternatives to alcohol, including road trips and dinner.

The cards also offer several tips to make drinking safer if students decide to consume alcohol, such as only having one drink an hour and not drinking on an empty stomach.

They also encourage parents to make sure students have a ride home on that night and do not drink and drive.

The dean’s office began the program this semester, and postcards are sent a week before a student’s birthday to his or her home address.

Student reactions vary from support to skepticism of how effective this program will be at reducing binge drinking. They said their parents had not spoken to them about the postcards.

Senior Brittany Young, who turned 21 last week, said she would listen if her parents talked to her about the dangers of alcohol.

“Anytime you have communication between a parent and child, even when a child has reached adulthood, it’s a good thing,” she said.

But other students believe that parents might not be the best way to reach students, and that the school should use other tactics.

“Friends would have more of an impact than parents, and experience would have more of an impact than friends,” said Daniel Friedman, a senior who turned 21 in the spring.

Senior Megan Jacobson said even though she thinks it’s a good start, some parents might not be used to talking to their children and wouldn’t be able to alter drinking behavior.

“I don’t think it will be super effective,” she said. “If parents are not already in the habit of talking to their children they wouldn’t be taken as seriously.”



Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.