BGSU program to curb binge drinking to serve as national model

An alcohol and drug abuse prevention program at Bowling Green State University has been judged as one of the top six programs in the nation and will serve as a model for other colleges and universities throughout the country.

The U.S. Department of Education made that judgment and awarded the University a $74,788 grant to expand the program on the campus and extend its reach into Ohio high schools.

In making the grant announcement, U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley cited the Bowling Green program as an innovative, effective and significant program which has shown it can reduce alcohol abuse by students and can be implemented at other campuses around the country.

The grant was awarded to Dr. Terry Rentner, an assistant professor of journalism at the University who has been studying the drinking habits of college students since 1992.

The innovative program focuses on dispelling misperceptions and imaginary norms held by students about binge drinking, Rentner said.

"Most universities have developed educational programs, which address alcohol-related issues. Those programs convey information about the physical and psychological effects of alcohol and they are designed for a mass audience," Rentner said, noting that those programs also have one other thing in common, "They usually are not effective."

In contrast, BGSU's two-step program, which has been operating on a small scale for the past two years, focuses on small groups of students who are at high risk for binge drinking. Those groups include freshmen, athletes and members of fraternities and sororities.

Binge drinking is defined as the consumption of five or more drinks at a time by a male and four or more drinks by a female. (Men and women metabolize alcohol at different rates.)

In an initial session, a small group of students is asked to complete a survey about how much alcohol they consume and how much they think other students, who are like them, drink.

After the survey answers have been tabulated, a second meeting is held to discuss the results.

"Without fail, students think their peers are drinking more than they actually are," Rentner said. "Freshmen come to the campus thinking that all students drink to excess every weekend. Fraternity and sorority members and athletes also think their peers are bigger drinkers than they actually are," she added.

The theory behind the program is that once these misperceptions are dispelled, the pressure students feel to drink heavily so they will "fit in" or be "normal" college students also will lessen.

Early indications are that the theory is on target. Since the program began two years ago, the rate of binge drinking on the Bowling Green campus has dropped 2.5 percent, while binge drinking rates nationwide have actually increased more than 4 percent during those same two years.

Other promising numbers:

• a 7 percent increase in the number of students who say University officials are concerned about drug and alcohol abuse prevention;
• a 6 percent increase in the number of students who know the campus has an alcohol prevention program;
• a 4 percent decrease in the number of students who say they have experienced peer pressure to drink;
• a 2 percent decrease in the number of students who "brag" about their drinking; and
• a 2 percent increase in the number of student who would prefer not to have alcohol at social functions.

Rentner is quick to point out that she and her program cannot take full credit for all the improvements because the program is part of a comprehensive plan at BGSU to curb binge drinking. The plan includes campus-community committees and programs, more traditional educational programs, an alcohol-alternative activities program and counseling efforts.

All of the University's alcohol prevention programs are coordinated through the Wellness Connection, which is under the direction of Christine Hageman.

While part of a comprehensive approach, follow-up studies indicate the program is having an impact. "We are part of the solution," Rentner said.

A large portion of the grant will be used to hire a person to administer the surveys and conduct the follow-up meetings with the students.

In addition, part of the money will be used to prepare information packets which will be mailed to every high school in Ohio, inviting them to participate in the program.

"If we can demonstrate to high school students that--contrary to what they have been told--not all college students drink all the time and that they will not have to drink to excess to be a normal college student, we will be helping them avoid alcohol-related problems in college," the BGSU faculty member said, adding that the goal is to offer an average of one program every day either on the campus or at a high school.

An assistant professor of journalism and a public relations professional, Rentner became interested in the issue of binge drinking when an advanced public relations class she was teaching took on the subject as a class project.

"What I was hearing from both students and faculty were statements like, 'But everybody drinks like that' and 'That is what college students are supposed to do.'"

She was aware that sometimes perception does not match reality, so she decided to survey students to see if their perceptions of how much their peers were drinking matched the reality. It did not.

"Our approach is relatively simple and inexpensive, although time consuming," she said, adding, "The best part is, it can be effective at any high school, college or university."

More than 50 colleges and universities applied for the U.S. Department of Education grants. In addition to Bowling Green, the other five institutions receiving awards are Hobart and William Smith College, Utah State University, and the universities of Arizona, Northern Colorado and Pennsylvania.