Binge Drinking

            Binge drinking, everybody does it in college! Not true says Dr. Henry Wechsler of Harvard University.( Hanson, Binge Drinking) Binge drinking is described as an extended period of time in which a person repeatedly become intoxicated, usually two days, and gives up his or her usual activities and obligations in order to become intoxicated. It is the pairing of prolonged use and giving up of normal activities that defines the clinical definition of binge. Other researches say that binge can be defined as having one or more drinks over the course of an evening of eating and socializing. .
             Now consider this, a man has two glasses of beer during a meal, and maybe sips 3 beers over a 2 to 3 hour period, the time of a normal sporting event. Now this would mark a normal Saturday night for some people. The man's blood alcohol level would remain low, and he probably wouldn't even feel the effects of the alcohol. Most would say no harm done; however he would be classified to some researchers as a binge drinker. (Hanson, Binge Drinking) Since some cases of bingeing are misinterpreted, most surveys are not showing what they are really meaning to prove and are instead inflating a social problem. The fact is that binge drinking among high school students is down 10%, and military personnel have subsided from bingeing substantially. The most incredible drop is among American College students, which has been dropping for a number of years. Dr. Weshler has found that abstainers have jumped 22% in the last four years.
             Since most surveys don't actually specify what a binge drinker really is, the truth about drinking can become distorted and misread by the average person. This poses a major problem, and this problem can only be minimized if the truth is totally visible to everyone. The surveys that are causing the real problem are the ones that are exaggerated. These surveys are meant to scare people from drinking, but in reality are actually hurting more than helping America's youth.