Underage drinking has been a well-known leading problem in the youth population today. Many underage drinkers end up in disastrous circumstances that lead into serious issues such as alcohol poisoning, high-risk sexual offenses, suicide, homicide and the issue of dependence on the substance. In the year 2013 Illinois alone had $2.8 billion in underage drinking damages.
Universities all over the world are finding ways to prevent underage drinkers from becoming a bigger issue than they are. The NIAAA, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse & Alcoholism stands firm behind the belief that enforcing drinking laws is one of the best ways to decrease alcohol abuse on college campuses. Bradley University has found and established new programs that are there to help BU students steer clear from becoming just another underage statistic.
This past year, from April 13th 2014 to April 13th 2015, BU Police has recorded 87 liquor violations both on and off campus. (Access the full Bradley University crime log here.) Since August 2008, when the Peoria Police Department, Peoria City/County Sheriff’s Department, Bradley University Police, and the Bradley University Wellness Program received a $9,000 grant to help enforce underage drinking laws on campus and throughout the Peoria, Bradley has found ways to help bring these numbers down.
Bradley University has worked to create programs such as The Bradley Heat, Late Night BU, SONOR, and Campus Coalition to help promote a healthy living lifestyle on Bradley’s campus. Each one of these programs work with students through workshops, classroom visits, marketing campaigns, and on campus activities to educate students on substance abuse.
Bradley Heat employee Alyssa Adamus expresses her thoughts on the program; “I think that the Bradley wellness programs really help with underage drinking. The Bradley Heat gives factual information on drinking tickets, fake ID rules, and consequences to underage drinking. This in return gives all students including students underage all the resources needed to make smart and healthy decisions.” Not only did Bradley create educational programs, they also created programs to give students alternate late night entertainment.
Late Night BU was created in 2008 under the Alcohol Action Plan to give students alcohol free entertainment.”Late Night BU is one of my favorite activities on campus,” student Kirstin Peterson says, “I got to volunteer at the Greek Night Late Night BU. I worked in the petting zoo and I ended up having a lot of fun. I think Bradley does a nice job at getting students involved.”
Encouraging a healthy lifestyle on campus is one of the most important aspects in helping decrease underage drinking. To learn more about the Bradley University Wellness programs visit the website here.