Did you know that more students report they are abstaining from alcohol than ever before?

Did you know that students often overestimate the drinking habits of their peers?

Did you know that students consider their parents as their number one source of health information – even over their friends and their schools?

What does it all mean? Simply this: Don't believe the hype. College students drink less than the press and common conversations would have us believe and the parents of college students can be very influential in the choices their sons and daughters make about alcohol use. Let's take a closer look at the facts vs. the fiction.

Fiction: "Everybody drinks."

Fact: In the past decade, a significant amount of press focused on high levels of alcohol consumption among college students and its negative consequences. Such reports may lead us to believe that the problems of college drinking are escalating. In fact, this is not true.

There is an abundance of research about college students and the use of alcohol and other drugs. One of the most interesting findings in the last 15 years is that most college students will overestimate the use of alcohol and other drugs by their peers. This misperception may cause students to behave in ways they otherwise would not. On campuses where true alcohol usage rates are advertised and discussed, there have been reductions in both the level of misperception and actual alcohol usage rates.

At Penn, we are now in the fifth year of a campaign to educate students about real versus misperceived alcohol use. The real story is that not all Penn students drink alcohol. In fact, the majority of Penn students drink alcohol in ways considered either no-risk (abstaining) or low-risk (four or fewer drinks, once a week or less). Students on campus can look for posters and ads reinforcing this fact. New students will engage in conversations with upper class students to talk about their perceptions of what they think Penn will be like, with regard to alcohol and other drug use, followed by information about what it is really like.

What you can do:

• Ask your son or daughter how they think alcohol and other drug use will affect their social life at Penn and in Philadelphia.
• Correct misperceptions your son or daughter may have about drinking at Penn.
• Suggest that your son or daughter look for the social norming ads and posters and attend discussion sessions and events sponsored by DART, the Penn undergraduate Drug and Alcohol Resource Team.

Fiction: "Everyone drinks to get drunk."

Fact: According to the most comprehensive study in the nation , the majority of students do not drink to get excessively drunk and more students are abstaining from alcohol use altogether. However, the percentage of students reporting excessive drinking raises serious concern.

This information is from Harvard's College Alcohol Study, which includes data collected since 1993 from more than 45,000 students at 140 colleges and universities across the nation. By tracking alcohol consumption over time, the study is helping educators focus their resources and efforts on students at high-risk for alcohol and other substance abuse.

There are two ends of the spectrum in the study. On one end, the percentage of students reporting that they are abstaining from alcohol has risen from 15% to 19% in the last decade. On the other end, 44% of college students report instances of "binge" drinking (5+ drinks in a sitting for men and 4+ drinks in a sitting for women in a prior 2-week period) .

Binge drinking is a serious issue and worth further consideration. While the percentage of students who report binge drinking has remained virtually unchanged for the last decade, the frequency of binge drinking has increased. The percentage of students reporting binge drinking 3 or more times in a 2-week period has risen, from 20% in 1993 to 23% in 1999 .

The Harvard study reports that binge drinkers are more likely to suffer injuries, damage property, hurt others, suffer academically, get in trouble with police, and drop out of school. While our greatest fears, of course, are alcohol-related injury or death, abusive drinking makes academic and personal success a difficult, and sometimes impossible, challenge.

At Penn, we have a comprehensive set of initiatives to support students who choose not to drink, provide help for students who want help for their friends, and intervene with students who are high- risk drinkers. The programs and resources are available through College Houses, with their teams if they are athletes, with their chapters if they join a fraternity or sorority, and through many other types of student groups.

What you can do:

• Encourage your son or daughter to think and act responsibly. Talk about the differences between low-risk and high-risk drinking.

Low-risk drinking:

• Setting limits on how much you will drink.
• Eating before and during drinking.
• Drinking no more than one drink per hour.
• Always knowing what you are drinking.
• Alternating alcohol-free drinks throughout the evening.
• Knowing how you will get home safely before going out.
• Realizing that abstaining is acceptable and the safest choice.
• Remembering that the legal drinking age is 21.

High-risk drinking:

• Drinking with the intention of getting drunk.
• Drinking too much too fast.
• Chugging and drinking games like "Beirut" or “golf.”
• Not knowing what is in your glass or leaving it unattended.
• Driving after drinking or riding with someone under the influence.
• Mixing alcohol with medication or illegal drugs.

Fiction: "There is nothing else to do."

Fact: Whether students come from urban centers like New York or Paris or from rural homes, Penn and Philadelphia offer many unique opportunities and experiences to them.

On campus there are more than 300 students organizations to choose from, each hosting a myriad of campus events. The best way for your son or daughter to learn more is through the web page of the Office of Student Life.

Penn also offers a student-run club with music, open microphone and poetry; late-night dining in and around campus; the Perelman Quadrangle with Penn's main auditorium and student stage; intramural sports; social clubs; and literally hundreds of activities virtually around the clock. In addition, College Houses host "Penn P.M." -- events on Wednesday through Saturday nights that include trips to the Philadelphia Museum of Art and marathon movie nights. To find out about all the social events, students can check the Penn web calendar or look for a large weekly ad in The Daily Pennsylvanian.

Penn's hometown of Philadelphia -- "The City of Brotherly Love" -- offers fabulous restaurants, theater, music, shopping, and sports. Students can find fun in the city all year 'round by visiting:
http://philadelphia.citysearch.com/ and http://www.philly2nite.com.

Fiction: "College drinking is a rite of passage."

Fact: Not at Penn. Penn does not condone drinking by underage students nor does the University tolerate high-risk substance use. The Penn campus is similar to that of other colleges and universities across the country. In this contemporary environment, we recognize that students are choosing to drink alcohol in various social settings. But in surveys of Penn undergraduates, more than half of the students reported drinking less than once a week .

In 1999, as a result of several alcohol-related
incidents that raised concern, Penn's Provost convened a group of students, faculty, and administrators to discuss issues surrounding high-risk drinking at Penn and to develop new interventions to create a safer collegiate environment. That group, called the Working
Group on Alcohol Abuse, identified five goals and made more than forty recommendations to reduce high-risk drinking at Penn. The goals were:

1. To improve and expand alcohol education opportunities
2. To ensure a supportive environment
3. To ensure individual and group accountability and responsibility
4. To minimize risk when alcohol is present
5. To improve and expand non-alcoholic social options on campus.

Click here to read more about these goals and the supporting recommendations.

What you can do -- consider and talk with your son or daughter about:

• Drinking behaviors first-year students may bring to Penn when they arrive.
• The assumptions and misperceptions students hold about college life and what is expected and tolerated when they arrive on campus.
• The drinking behaviors students may engage in as a result of those misperceptions.
• The drinking environment that older students create for younger students.
• The extent to which students will go to seek help from their parents, friends, faculty, and administrators to try to determine boundaries and rules that will help make their drinking safer.

Fiction: "Partying will be even better when I turn 21."

Fact: With the increasing sense of autonomy and independence of students in upper class years comes increased responsibility (i.e., choosing a major, gaining profession-related work experiences, and developing significant relationships).

For the majority of students, the increase in responsibility results in a moderate approach to drinking and other drug use. When a student does not moderate use, the negative consequences can have a greater impact on their future success. After the first year, the second highest-risk time for Penn students is the end of junior year through the end of senior year, when many turn 21 or celebrate their passage into senior year.

What you can do:

• Be particularly attuned to your son or daughter near the end of junior year and throughout senior year.
• Talk about their expectations about alcohol now that they are turning 21 and/or becoming seniors.
• Ask them to refrain from celebrating their 21st birthday, or any other event, with the fast consumption of a large amount of alcohol. Ask them to discourage their friends from doing the same.
• Be available to discuss concerns they may have about alcohol use in these situations and help them plan ways to avoid the peer pressure of high-risk alcohol consumption.