Holiday Party Season Poses Dangers for College Students

HARTFORD — The holiday season can be the most dangerous season of the year for Connecticut’s young adults, especially college students. Connecticut’s Statewide Healthy Campus Initiative urges everyone to recognize the risks and take steps to ensure college students in Connecticut stay safe during this holiday season.

For many college students, the dangerous season begins with the first trip home on Thanksgiving weekend and continues through January, a period when students are reunited with hometown friends and former classmates. Often students are attending get-togethers include large quantities of alcohol and high-risk behaviors.

Unfortunately, this combination of alcohol and underage drinkers can have devastating effects and irreversible consequences. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), alcohol use among college students contributes to an estimated 1,700 student deaths, 599,000 unintentional injuries, and 97,000 cases of sexual assault each year.

Further, the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse reports that approximately 240,000 to 360,000 of the nation’s 12 million current undergraduates will ultimately die from alcohol-related causes; that is more young people than the total number who will earn either master’s or doctorate degrees in their lifetime combined.

In light of this alarming data, parents and communities can take a number of simple steps to help ensure a safe holiday season for Connecticut’s college students.

“It’s important for parents to stay involved in their son’s and daughter’s decisionmaking, especially where alcohol is concerned,” says Peter Rockholz, deputy commissioner of the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. “Current research indicates that young adults who have meaningful conversations regarding drugs and alcohol with a parent or guardian are 50 percent less likely to engage in high-risk behaviors.” 

Tips for talking to your student can be found on Connecticut’s Statewide Healthy Campus Initiative website at www.preventionworksct.org/campus

It is also important for both parents and students to be familiar with Connecticut law when it comes to underage drinking and private house parties. As of October 1, it is illegal for anyone under 21 to possess alcohol anywhere in the state, including on private property. It is also illegal for anyone to knowingly allow minors to possess alcohol.

Other policies to be aware of include the student code and alcohol and other drug use policy on your son’s or daughter’s college campus. In many cases, campuses have “off-campus jurisdiction” meaning that any legal trouble that occurs at home can result in additional consequences at school. Students can be suspended or even expelled from school for off-campus offenses. Reinforcing and supporting your child’s campus policies at home can help students make informed and healthy decisions, and keep them safe.

Connecticut’s Statewide Healthy Campus Initiative works year-round to prevent high-risk alcohol and other drug use and reinforce healthy decisions on college campuses and surrounding communities.

For more information about these efforts, call The Governor’s Prevention Partnership at 860-523-8042 or the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services at 860-428-6839.