Campus Safety—Higher Learning without Substance Abuse
When we think of college, we think of institutions of higher learning. We think of places that our young adult sons and daughters go to expand their knowledge, to flourish, to grow intellectually, and to develop their life goals and ambitions. We think of course lectures and exams, libraries, sporting events, collegiate events, and activities.
One thing we don’t often think about, however, is our sons and daughters experimenting with drugs and alcohol on campus. The thought rarely crosses our minds. “Not my kid,” we think. But we are in a century where drug and alcohol use statistics have grown considerably. We, as parents, have to face the fact that substance abuse on college campuses has become more common.
What can our sons and daughters do to avoid experimenting with substances when they’re off at college? What can campus administrations do? What can we do to give our kids the best chances for a sober college experience?
The Statistics—College Student Bodies and Recreational Substance Abuse
First, let’s take a look at the reality of substance abuse on college campuses today. Not only has this problem become more common, but it has also become more dangerous. The substances used today, like opiates, meth, pills, and synthetic drugs, are more dangerous and life-threatening than the hallucinogenics and marijuana use of previous generations.
“Young adults are the biggest abusers of prescription opioid pain relievers, ADHD stimulants, and anti-anxiety drugs. They do it for all kinds of reasons, including to get high or because they think Rx stimulants will help them study better…”
Let's look at a quote from a relevant text published by the National Institute on Drug Abuse: “Young adults are the biggest abusers of prescription opioid pain relievers, ADHD stimulants, and anti-anxiety drugs. They do it for all kinds of reasons, including to get high or because they think Rx stimulants will help them study better. But Rx abuse is dangerous. In 2014, more than 1,700 young adults died from prescription-drug (mainly opioid) overdoses—more than died from overdoses of any other drug, including heroin and cocaine combined—and many more needed emergency treatment.”
That data is significant. Prescription drug abuse has become a problem all across the country, and this new trend has hit the younger generation the hardest.
And that makes sense because the false data surrounding pills makes young people more likely to experiment with them. “It’s a medicine, isn’t it? How harmful can it be?” That’s the general thought process that inclines young people towards experimenting with prescription drugs over hard drugs.
A growing interest in prescription drugs is just one building block in the complex structure of young adult drug use. What about alcohol misuse among college students? Time and time again, we see alcohol consumption as a growing problem on college campuses.
Let’s take a look a some of the statistics on college student alcohol misuse. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, “According to the 2015 NSDUH, 37.9 percent of college students ages 18–22 reported binge drinking in the past month compared with 32.6 percent of other persons of the same age.”
Can Students and Parents Work with Colleges to Promote a Substance-Free Campus?
Substance-abuse statistics on college campuses is increasing. Yet there is much that college students, parents, and college administrations can do to promote substance-free universities. We should remember that creating a substance-free environment of higher education is not just the responsibility of the colleges themselves, students should also encourage sober universities, and their parents should support these efforts.
U.S. News contributor Katherine Hobson wrote a detailed piece on campus safety. She sought to explore the four main areas that need to be strengthened to create campuses that promote safety and wellness. According to Hobson, campus officials, students, and parents need to focus on:
- How a school supports mental and emotional health among students. (Emotional struggles, stress, and peer pressure are often factors that precipitate substance abuse among students. Addressing these factors before students turn to substances acts as a preventative to substance abuse.)
- How a school keeps students physically safe.
- How a school prevents sexual assault among students.
- How a school actively and progressively limits alcohol and drug experimentation among students.
It seems that the best way to promote a drug-free campus is to get parents, students, and college administrators all on the same page regarding campus safety and wellness. Examples of this being done would include:
- Students forming collegiate recovery support groups. These would be aimed at supporting sobriety and abstinence among students who had struggled with substance abuse in the past.
- Campuses instituting zero-tolerance policies on alcohol misuse on campus, drug use on campus, and substance-influenced partying and events. Colleges could create drug-free and alcohol-free zones on campus to prevent illegal drug use and underage drinking.
- Parents and college alumni could work with campus faculty and administrators to sponsor campus-led educational and preventive efforts. Such programs could include public seminars on drug and alcohol use, campus events, activities for raising awareness, etc.
The list of potential efforts and activities for reducing substance abuse on college campuses goes on and on. It seems that, if parents, students, and campus administrators could all work together, the problem would gradually reduce.
If Your College Student Falls Prey to an Addiction…
If you have a son or daughter in college who has fallen prey to drug addiction, your focus becomes one of helping your son or daughter get clean through residential drug treatment. A drug habit or an alcohol habit can have lethal consequences. An addiction can carry with it a grief-stricken permanence, as the threat of an overdose or a fatal accident is always just around the corner.
As a parent, your primary focus must immediately become one of getting your son or daughter the help he or she needs to get clean—and doing so as soon as possible. Residential drug rehab centers offer the safest and most effective route for doing this. Don’t let an addiction be the final chapter in your child’s life. Make sure they get help today.
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