Breanna Mitchell: Should Athletes Be Held More Accountable Than Other Students

Binge drinking is a hot topic lately in society and individuals are trying to find ways to keep students out of trouble.  I do not think we can make a difference overnight because drinking in college is considered by many to be the “cool” thing to do. People feel that they are in invincible and can do anything when drinking alcohol. Others feel that it helps them loosen up and they become more social around people, as noted by the University of Minnesota in the following quote: “Pressure to misuse alcohol may be intensified when a student starts college and is interacting with new peers, is exposed to new norms about alcohol use, and parents are less present.” Social status, particularly in college, can be very important to some people and they may abuse alcohol in order to lower their inhibitions. I believe that harsher consequences for underage drinking would result in a decrease of alcohol abuse in college age students. From my research, I have found that many kids are receiving drinking citations, fines, community service, and academic problems. I believe that these consequences need to be more harsh and include greater monetary fines, longer community service time, or even criminal charges on a permanent record.

As an athlete, we are already held to higher standards regarding drinking. We represent the school we play for whether we like or not, and we also are expected to set a good example for everyone around us that is watching. Everyone wants to have fun in college but as an athlete you have to be especially careful and responsible because so many eyes are on you. Every time we drink, we risk the chance of getting in trouble with our sports team, as well as more severe consequences such as criminal charges if we are underage or severely reckless. If we are caught binge drinking, we can face consequences such as being suspended, losing our scholarship money, or even possibly getting kicked off of the team. The NCAA writes, “We who work with student-athletes know the toll alcohol abuse can take in terms of lost potential – both athletically and academically”.  It is a big issue and sometimes it depends on the coach or the school and how serious they take it. If your coach finds out about it, he or she will give you a talking to or punishment as well. Some of those punishments could be making the whole team run, having a meeting with your parents, or being suspended indefinitely. It all depends on what you get in trouble for and how bad it is. If you get in trouble for something that is really bad such as underage drinking or drinking while driving, it can go all the way to the NCAA.

At Elon, it is arguable that the rest of the student body can get away with more things than your typical athlete would because they do not have the numerous coaches, trainers, or teammates counting on them to be responsible and respectful. As a student body, the other students should be held to the same standards and if need be, suffer the same consequences for their actions. They would not experience the same types of consequences like we athletes would in terms of being removed from an athletic team, but it would be good to have everyone on the same page for every other consequence or punishment. Some consequences they could face could be losing some of their academic scholarship money, or getting kicked out of organizations they are in. Many individuals are involved in the college life such as an athletic, intramural, or club team, Greek life, service groups, or even an accapella group. When the things that people care about are being threatened they will probably be more likely to follow the rules if they know that their privileges will be lost if they do not. These are things that people do not want to risk losing so they would be more careful if high stakes were on the line.

Both student athletes and non students athletes are drinking immensely but not one particular group is doing it more than the other. Studies do find that, “in contrast to their non-athlete peers, student-athletes tend to have seasonal patterns to their drinking and binge drinking, with more individuals drinking and more frequent drinking occurring during the off-seasons of their respective sports”. So student athletes are being careful when they are in season but tend to slack off and not care as much when they are not in season. If individuals want to find a way with how to decrease binge drinking in student athletes, they need to figure out how to do it when they are in their off seasons. That is when it is very prevalent because student athletes are not worried about being suspended from a game during that period. If they want to decrease alcohol abuse in non student athletes then they should figure out patterns of when they binge drink the most. Athletes and students that do not play sports should be treated similarly when dealing with binge drinking. Everyone needs to be on the same page if we are going to make a change with binge drinking on college campuses.