The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board is taking a realistic, proactive approach to combating… The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board is taking a realistic, proactive approach to combating dangerous levels of student drinking, particularly among the underaged. It hired an advertising company, Kzenic/Pavone Advertising, to create a CD-ROM addressing dangerous drinking among college students.

This approach is unique because it acknowledges underage drinking truly does take place, rather than adopting a head-in-the-sand, finger-wagging view.

The new campaign, rather than lecturing teens to simply not drink, offers suggestions for sane drinking, such as keeping track of drinks consumed or eating before indulging.

The campaign also confronts students with factual evidence that not “everyone is getting wasted,” and in fact most students drink between zero and four drinks a week. The idea is to prevent students from feeling pressured to keep up with their supposedly marathon-guzzling peers.

PLCB is to be commended for this remarkably reasonable method of confronting a dangerous and very real problem. Why not take it a step further?

College kids drink. Sometimes, a lot. Even, at times, too much. For anyone, regardless of age or legal status, over-imbibing is a serious health and public safety risk. Many students, regardless of whether they begin drinking as soon as they hit college or wait until the magical age of 21, are unaware of alcohol’s effects on them at first, as college may be the first time they are exposed to it. This is typically what leads to the largest alcohol-related problems.

PLCB could team up with the University to distribute fact sheets, fliers, posters or even wallet-sized cards with “drinking first aid.” Give examples of signs of overindulgence and possible remedies. Not everyone knows that an unconscious drunk should be turned on his side to prevent a ghastly vomit-choked end, for instance.

An even more effective approach could involve education at a much younger age. Have PLCB representatives go into grade schools to calmly inform children of the dangers of “Animal House”-style drinking. In most of Europe, where there is no formally enforced drinking age, children are exposed to alcohol early on and given a practical education on the drug’s effects. Consequently, binge drinking is much less common among university students there.

The current climate of police citations and abuse-resistance programs is only teaching kids how not to get caught, not how to respect a powerful and potentially dangerous substance they’ll likely be exposed to for the rest of their lives.