AlcoholEdu Fails to Provide Long-Term Benefits for UT Students
Freshmen entering college are often faced with the first test of their ability to balance independence with being mature enough to make wise decisions. The beginning of college life is often celebrated with alcohol, yet some students don’t have enough knowledge about the effects of alcohol to make good decisions.
AlcoholEdu is a program offered at the University of Texas-Austin. One of two colleges to use AlcoholEdu, UT expects all incoming freshmen and transfer students under the age of 21 to complete the online education program. For three years, UT has used the program, but a recent study by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) indicates that the program is effective at reducing harmful drinking for only one semester.
Kevin Prince, who oversees the course at UT, explains that the course is not meant to impose a certain view or particular choices on students, but rather arms them with information to make responsible choices. The program does not attempt to encourage abstinence from alcohol among students.
According to the study completed by the NIAAA, AlcoholEdu focuses on topics such as driving under the influence and alcohol poisoning. The study found that the course significantly improves the rates of these incidents as a result of participation in the program, but the benefits are limited to only the first semester.
Prince explains that the long-term effects of AlcoholEdu at UT are unclear, but believes that it is reasonable to think that the positive effects seen during the first semester decline after the holidays, mirroring the trends observed in the national study.
AlcoholEdu is UT-Austin’s attempt to overcome the “college effect,” the assumption that incoming freshmen will inevitably be confronted with alcohol-related decisions upon entering college. Because of the lack of a support system with the transition into college, many freshmen will make unwise decisions.
However, UT does not have the party problems observed at some other schools. In fact, Prince reports that UT falls below the national average when it comes to alcohol-related incidents and that there is a relatively high number of students who consider themselves to be nondrinkers.
Despite the increase in alcohol-related incidents reported during the spring semester, UT students believe that AlcoholEdu provides important information to freshmen about how to make informed choices related to alcohol consumption.
In addition to AlcoholEdu, University Health Services offers programs for alcohol-related education and other drug consultations, in which students are able to speak with a licensed professional counselor about alcohol- and drug-related issues.
