 | | Janelle Kanovich, 22, of Harrisburg, Pa., drinks tequila out of the bottle. |
An estimated 1,400 college students are killed every year in alcohol-related accidents, according to a study released Tuesday that researchers call the most comprehensive look ever at the consequences of student drinking."Half the World Trade Center casualties are happening every year in our colleges," said one researcher, Mark Goldman, a psychology professor at the University of South Florida. The researchers say the figures show that college drinking needs to be seen as a major health concern. The study supported by the federally estimated that drinking by college students contributes to 500,000 injuries and 70,000 cases of sexual assault or date rape. Also, 400,000 students between 18 and 24 years old reported having had unprotected sex as a result of drinking. The study does not say whether the problems are increasing or decreasing. A Harvard School of Public Health survey released last month reported that more students are abstaining from alcohol, but levels of binge drinking having at least four or five drinks at a sitting are the same as in the early 1990s. Motor vehicle fatalities were the most common form of alcohol-related deaths. The statistics included college students killed in car accidents if the students had alcohol in their blood, even if the level was below the legal limit. Students who died in other alcohol-related accidents, such as falls and drownings, were included. Those who died as a result of homicides or suicides were not. Goldman said general messages warning of the dangers of alcohol do not appear to be effective with college students, at least by themselves. What's more effective is teaching students how to resist peer pressure. "Many of the students don't want to do it, but they don't know how to say no," he said. Communities and colleges need to work together as well to prevent underage drinking and limit the number of stores that sell alcohol, he said. "The university can't do them by themselves because even if they did effective things, it might just squeeze it off into the community," Goldman said. (Agencies) | 日前，美國的調查人員針對美國大學生飲酒造成的后果進行了一次深入徹底的調查。調查結果于4月10日公布，結果表明美國每年有大約1400名大學生死于"酒精事故"。 其中的一名研究人員，南佛羅里達大學的心理學教授馬克·戈爾德曼說："我們大學里每年因飲酒過量而導致的死亡人數已經達到9·11事件中世貿中心里死亡人數的一半。" 參加調查的人員普遍認為，這個結果說明大學生酗酒已經成為一個值得重視的的健康問題了。 這個由美國聯邦政府贊助的調查小組稱，大學生酗酒已經造成50萬起傷亡事故和7萬起性騷擾和強奸事件的發生。此外由于酒后失控，有40萬名年齡在18至24歲的學生在沒有任何安全措施的情況下發生過性行為。 這項調查結果并沒有說明這樣的狀況是否得到了改善或者正在進一步惡化。哈佛大學公共衛生學院上個月的一份調查報告表明，已經有越來越多的學生主動戒絕飲酒，但是另一方面學生們在聚會時的飲酒量卻仍不見減少，還像20世紀90年代初一樣一飲便是4、5杯。 酗酒后最常導致的惡果就是交通事故引起的死亡。統計數字表明因酒后駕車導致車禍而死亡的大學生中不僅包括酒精含量超標的人，甚至還包括了那些血液中酒精含量低于法定標準的人。 此外，飲酒過量所導致的諸如摔跤和溺水等事故也包括在以上列舉的數字之內，但是兇殺或者自殺事件則沒有包括在內。 戈爾德曼教授說，如果對這些學生只給予一般性的警告根本不起任何作用，至少靠他們自己是不會見效的。有效的方法是教會學生們懂得去拒絕。 他說："他們中有很多人并不想這樣濫飲，但是他們卻不知道如何去拒絕別人的邀請。" 他說，為了防止年輕人過量飲酒和未成年人酗酒，社會應當和學校配合起來限制出售酒精飲品商店的數量。 戈爾德曼說："學校單方面行動是不夠的，因為即使學校采取了有效的措施，如果社會不予以配合，他們還是可能會鉆社會的空子的。" (中國日報網站譯) |
Updated: 2002-04-12 01:00
