Is your child starting college this year? Congratulations! Sending a child away to school is a big step for both the teen and the parent. You know there will be new situations, and for the first time, you won’t be there to guide your child. How can you be sure that your college student will make the right choices?
For many parents, drinking is a big concern. You may remember frat parties from your own college days. Chances are that at that time, the drinking age was 18 or 19. On top of the other dangers of drinking, teens must now deal with legal issues if they are caught drinking on campus.
Our Madison personal injury attorneys suggest that you discuss underage drinking with your teen before she leaves for college. Explain that underage drinking is risky. Each year college drinking contributes to:
- 1,700 student deaths
- 500,000 injuries
- 696,000 sexual assaults
- 400,000 incidents of unprotected sex
Let your child know that as a college student, she is responsible for the consequences of her behavior. Let her know that she must pay any fines if she is caught drinking.
Talk about the dangers of binge drinking. Binge drinking is defined as five or more drinks in two hours for men and four or more drinks in two hours for women. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), 48 percent of college students engage in binge drinking. The numbers are higher among members of the Greek system; more than 80 percent of sorority members and 86 percent of fraternity members admit to binge drinking.
Wisconsin college binge drinking can be fatal. The tragic reality is that almost 2,000 college student deaths a year are directly related to alcohol use. Some of these students die when they or others get behind the wheel. Some die because of alcohol-related crimes. Others literally drink themselves to death, slipping into comas with blood alcohol levels four times the legal limit.
Colleges and the associated fraternities and sororities have the responsibility to protect the lives of students. They cannot turn a blind eye to alcohol abuse among minors. If your child is the victim of a Wisconsin college alcohol death, we suggest that you speak with a Madison personal injury lawyer. You may be able to hold the college, fraternity or sorority accountable and prevent similar deaths in the future. To learn more, contact the Wisconsin wrongful death attorneys at Hupy and Abraham at 800-800-5678. The initial consultation is always free.
