College is a time in a student’s life to become further educated, have an increase in responsibility and explore everything college has to offer and much of that experience involves the social aspect of drinking.

Drinking and college practically go hand and hand. Drinking can be seen as a stress reliever from the rigors of homework, difficult tests and choosing a major. The majority of students being ages 18 to 24 make up the student body and some partake in this sort of stress relief.

Another reason why college students tend to drink is that there may never be another time to live life to the fullest and have fun doing so. After college, students enter the real world and begin to work to make a good living. Often times their jobs consume them and the job becomes the main responsibility while being social takes a back seat.

The drinking age is 21 in these United States but people tend to experiment, or rebel for short, and start consuming alcohol as early as high school. This offers lots of risks including binge drinking and getting cited for possession.

According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, ” binge drinking negatively affects college students’ academic performance, social relationships and health.” They classify binge drinking as consuming five drinks for men and 4 for women in a two-hour period.

Drinking in excessive amounts often lead to problems. Avoid it by walking away from that third beer pong game or taking a break from drinking every time Barney wore the duck tie on “How I Met Your Mother”.

With the bad comes the good. Having a drink from time to time can be relaxing and lead to creating relationships with people. It also has the sense of adventure. Not knowing where life will take you in one night has a sort of fun factor that many people want to experience.

Drinking can be fun as long as its in moderation, in a controlled environment and those involved do not drive. Drinking and driving has become an epidemic recently and the police have been cracking down by increasing checkpoints. More and more young adults are getting DUI’s and the consequences are major.

The biggest risk with driving drunk is that the driver puts everyone around him or her at risk of possible injury or death. According to DUIconsequences.org, first time offenders ” are looking at fines, possible jail time, a license suspension, community service and mandatory attendance at alcohol and drug education classes.” This is a serious crime that can easily be cut down by people taking it easy when it comes to drinking.

There are ways to control drinking to where someone does not get overly belligerent. Eating before drinking and spacing out drinks with water are two ways to avoid getting drunk. Bring cash so that there is a limit to how much you drink. This writer’s personal favorite is to dance while drinking. It keeps you moving which lessens the effect of alcohol and no matter how silly or embarrassing it may be, just remember that your having fun and that is really what its all about.

Drinking alcohol can be about having a good time with other people. Yes, it can lead to serious health and school problems but when done in moderation, it can be a great way to let loose and be stress free for a few hours. Don’t drink and drive and don’t binge drink.   Nothing positive can come out of those situations. If you’re going to drink have fun, be in a controlled environment and take a sip every time Barney yells SUIT UP.