Coinciding with Halloween celebrations, National Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Week occurs annually on the third week of October to inform students on strategies of safe alcohol consumption.
This year, the University of Rhode Island Health Promotion’s events and informational sessions ran in tandem with the week’s theme, from Oct. 21 to Saturday.
In a situation where a student gets alcohol poisoning, many of their peers may not know what to do or even recognize what is happening, according to Arielle Sherman, an Alcohol and Other Drug Education specialist at URI. The point of this week is not to shame those who actively drink, but to inform them on how to safely and knowledgeably participate in the activity.
URI Health Promotion worked with student employees who are trained as peer health educators to run activities throughout last week. Students learned how drugs and alcohol interact and were given ways to gauge their alcohol consumption through accurate drink sizes.
Additionally, Health Promotion discussed the dangers of binge drinking – including alcohol poisoning and unsafe driving.
The information was presented through games where students spun wheels and perfected a “perfect pour.”
While prizes and games could be an easy draw-in for students, there is an underlying concern of the general lack of interest that much of the student body shows towards the topic, according to Sherman.
“I think that students who come up to the table want to interact with you,” Sherman said. “The ones who come up to the table [are] either there for the incentive…but then that gets them engaged [in] conversation.”
AODE understands that, while underage drinking is illegal, many students partake in the activity, according to Sherman. By meeting students where they are at with drinking, they are able to ensure that those choosing to drink have access to safety information and know how to look out for themselves and their peers.
“The goal is to make sure that students are getting these harm reduction tactics under their belt,” Sherman said. “If we’re choosing to drink, these could be the safest tips to use if choosing to go out with one another.”
Throughout the academic year, AODE offers students opportunities toward a healthier life path, group recovery, harm reduction information and more, according to the Health Services website .
“I think students need to watch out for one another, to care about each other, to notice things,” Sherman said. “If we don’t know something, is this really something we should experiment with, or should we have a conversation with friends?”
URI offers resources for student support through the URI Counseling Center , SMART Recovery virtual meetings every Monday at 7 p.m. and AA meetings every Friday at 7 p.m. in St. Augustine’s Church in Kingston, Rhode Island.