Drinking games prove dangerous way to socialize

“Beer Pong,” “Higher or Lower,” “Never Have I Ever” and “Quarters” are just a few of the well-known drinking games students play while socializing. Each consists of contestants drinking large quantities of alcohol while in a competition. However, winning first place can result in a student regretting his or her participation.

Students drink when placed in stressful settings, such as parties, to help them relax and socialize more easily. In these settings, students play games to bring them together.

“I think that people are more likely to drink (excessively) if they play the games because they have the desire to win,” freshman Jessica Cagle, a nursing major, said.

While a few drinks may not cause much damage, “chugging” due to drinking games could lead to alcohol poisoning, said Dr. Gregory Johnson, director of emergency services at The University of Texas Health Science Center.

“One or two drinks allow you to socialize and become giddy (because), as you drink more, you suppress deeper levels of your brain,” Johnson said.
He said this suppression is what leads to slower motor skills, decreased logic in thinking and could cause the drinker to pass out. Drinking beyond one’s legal limit is ultimately what causes most of the problems typically seen in drunkenness, he said.

“Anyone with slurred speech should not be driving,” he said. “They are past their limit. Someone having difficulty walking could have potential alcohol poisoning.”

Alcohol poisoning occurs when someone who is intoxicated passes out, making it impossible to dispose of residue that can buildup. Johnson said a person could ultimately die due to choking on vomit blocking the throat, but these cases are really infrequent. Accidents due to intoxication are much more likely.

“It (drinking) is going to happen,” junior Bryce Johnston, a journalism major, said. “It’s up to the friends and the people that are with them to take responsibility.”

According to a study featured in the 2005 issue of “Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research,” even if students do not participate in drinking games, they pour large drinks and underestimate how much alcohol they consume when they go out. Not knowing the amount in their bodies, drinkers can often find themselves in compromising predicaments.

“A 12-ounce can of beer is equal to a six-ounce glass of wine which is equal to one ounce of liquor,” Johnson said. “You can have two glasses of wine and be eligible for date rape. It can put you in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

The legal intoxication level is measured as .08. If someone has reached this level and is driving, one can be arrested due to Texas’s Zero Tolerance law. If arrested, drinkers can face no less than 72 hours behind bars and owe up to a $2,000 fine.

“I think that most college students who take part in drinking aren’t of age, but when they get old enough, they lose their interest in it,” freshman Brandi Bankhead, an accounting major, said.

Johnson said that University students must make a conscious decision about their drinking when in social situations.

Freshman Toni Byers, a pre-law major, said drinking builds up alcohol tolerance.
“It might lead to negative results like lacking in school,” Byers said. “If you’re hung over in the morning, you aren’t going to want to go to class.”

Senior Craig Muriithi, a marketing major, said he believes people are going to drink whether or not there is a game.
“I think drinking games make it more fun,” Muriithi said.

Freshman Wesley Ross Harris, undecided major, said he has never participated in drinking games, but believes doing so has a negative effect on students.

“I think a lot of stupid decisions are made drunk,” Harris said. “If they are playing games and only drinking a little, its not quite as bad.”

“Even if you participate in drinking games, be sure to take better care of yourself because even if you don’t think so, you will live long,” Johnson said.

“Think about what that kind of damage could do to your body, and how it will affect you when your 50 or 60 years old. Look at the big picture and not the immediate gratification.”