[Image: Rob Donnelly]
There's no question that alcohol is a factor in the majority of sexual assaults on campus. And alcohol is abundant and very present at most colleges today.
In fact, federal health officials say more than 80 percent of college students drink. And about half say they binge drink. This means more than four drinks for women and more than five drinks for men, within a two-hour time frame.
"Everybody's drinking to get drunk," says Dr. Sharon Levy, a pediatrician and director of the Adolescent Substance Abuse Program at Boston Children's Hospital. "Kids tell me this is how they socialize with friends."
Levy says that what's happening on college campuses is an unfortunate collusion of the brain's biology with a hard-to-resist environment.
Though 18-year-olds are legally considered adults, their brains are sort of stuck in adolescence, Levy says, not fully developed till the mid-20s. So at 18, the when students typically enter college, the part of their brain in charge of seeking reward and stimulation is in full gear.
To read the rest of this story by NPR reporter Patti Neighmond, go to: http://www.npr.org/blogs/healt...ege-drinking-culture
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