Teenage Bingeing

Pawan, a lively agra lag of 18, is having his first coolege term at Delhi, He did start taking beer occasionaaly since he was 16, but now he’s given to bingeing, mostly in the company of hostel mates.Binge drinkers are known to indulge more in unplanned sexual activity than nonbinge drinkers. Even women can blame their lack ot sexual control on alcohal.

Does he drink excessively? "I don't think so," says Pawan. "My drinking averages no
more than once a week and I deem it stupid to get really drunk." Asked what constituted for him a reasonable limit for a drinking session, he puts it at three large beers.
Three big beer bottles equal six standard measures of alcohol. That would be bmgeing; defined as consuming at least five drinks (4 for women)  during one sitting, no less than once in a fortnight.
Some recent studies reveal that an increasing number of undergraduates are becoming binge drinkers. Even the percentage of college girls indulging in it has arisen significantly. "If a party is going good, I may well down 3 to 4 gins," admits Ruby, a fresher Miranda college
.
Many People tend to view college students as. essentially children so must be shielded from the pernicious effects of alcohol.
Indeed the age limit makes it all the more exciting for the below-21 to drink, with that extra high from breaking a rule. And they have little difficulty in obtaining alcohol.
Surveys bring out that fresher actually binge more often than older students. Some senior students are known to moderate their drinking, after their bingeing spells in early college years. Of course, there are many others who choose to binge throughout college.
Quite a few fresher come to college thinking that binge drinking was expected of everyone who wanted to be popular. Some may drink to seek the fellowship of their seniors or ust to impress them with their capacity and maturity to stand heavy drinking without puking. Others binge to let off steam or fight the frustrations of a fresher.
"When people ask me why college students drink," says a University Dean, wanting to remain anonymous, "I say, 'Why not?' People in the "real world" have far more responsibilities and cares. College students have only a few lectures to attend and study when it's convenient And nowadays many of them easily manage the cash to buy alcohol. That way college hostel life is set up for binge behaviour."
College drinking has one distinctive feature: it is primarily. social drinking. Drinking isn't something to do it's something people do together.

Few teens seem to worry much about what such drinking does to their bodies. Cirrhosis of the liver is unlikely to catch up with them for decades, and heart attacks seem as remote as retirement.Yet new research suggests that young drinkers are courting danger. Because their brains are still developing well into their twenties, teens who drink excessively may be destroying significant amounts of mental capacity in ways that are more dramatic than in older drinkers.It has been long known that excessive alcohol consumption among adults over long periods can create brain damage, at least a mild loss of memory. But less has been known about the impact alcohol has on younger brains. Till recently it was assumed that a youthful brain is more resilient than an adult brain, and could escape many of the worst ills of alcohol. But several recent American studies indicate that the younger the brain, the more it may be at risk. "Binge alcohol exposure in adolescence appears to produce long-lasting changes in brain function," says Dr Arron White, a noted biological psychologist at the Duke University. "The younger brain tissues, being more sensitive, are more vulnerable."
Teen drinkers appear to be particularly susceptible to damage in the hippocampus- the deeper part of brain responsible for many types of learning and memory, and in the prefrontal cortex- the brain's chief decision maker and voice of reason. Both areas, otherwise, undergo dramatic development in the second decade of life. Excessive teenage drinking could interfere with their development.
This is suspected to have a significant impact on the ability of affected adolescents to learn. Not that he or she can't function normally, but it could mean a difference in grades at school or college. In some studies researchers found a 10 percent difference in performance.
The phenomenon of bingeing on college campuses is now the subject of a national debate in USA. In 1998 the Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study, which surveyed students at 116 universities and collel!es across the countrv. reported that 42.7percent were binge drinkers. In Harvard itself, three freshers just sent off to college - died from binges in recent years. The study revealed that dangerous drinking peaked in young adulthood (ages 18 - 22 of college years) and then gradually decreased. .
Heavy drinking is particularly common in fraternity parties where the drinking rituals are used to welcome new pledges. Students join fraternities looking for a place to belong as they make their awkward passage from adolescence to adulthood.
Several explanations are advanced as to the prevalence of bingeing among school and college students.Teens and young adults are in the process of establishing an identity apart from their parents, and a key element in this process is main,taining a meaningful connection with a peer group. Utmost importance is attached to being accepted by that group. Last year Euan Blair, British Prime Minister's son was found drunk and vomiting in Licester Square, London. The 16-year-old had been celebrating end of his GCSE exams with his pals. He had evidently drunk more than he could handle.Alcohol use may function as a psychological defence against being small and helpless. And drinking supplies many young people with an illusion of being' adult. It emulates adult behaviour while simultaneously signalling rebellion against adult authority. Anyway children are now growing faster, and so adopting adult habits at an earlier age.
Yet binge drinking poses many perils. It can lead to alcoholism, unsafe or improper sexual behaviour, and a host of other emotional and physical problems. And now the mounting evidence has shown that bingeing teenagers can do their brain significant damage.Possibly the answer lies in changing the en vironment that supports heavy drinking. And this is a challenging task not only for the parents and school! college authorities, but also for the young students themselves.