In an effort to reduce high-risk drinking, Georgetown and six other schools will partner with the National Social Norms Institute at the University of Virginia to study social behavior among students.
According to Jennifer Bauerle, director of the NSNI, seven schools applied for grants from the Anheuser-Busch company to collect data and study the theory of social norms, which suggests that students engage in high-risk behavior such as binge drinking because of common misconceptions about the behavior of other students.
Bauerle said that the purpose of the project is to provide students with accurate statistics about their peers’ drinking habits so that they can make informed decisions about alcohol use and not feel unnecessary pressure to drink.
“What you think your peers are doing affects how you will behave,” Bauerle said.
Results from surveys taken at UVA show that most students overestimate the amount of alcohol their peers consume.
According to Bauerle, UVA has seen a dramatic decrease in high-risk drinking among its students since implementing the social norms campaign in 2001. The NSNI calculated that, in that time, there have been 1,400 fewer students injured as a result of alcohol consumption, 1,100 fewer students driving under the influence of alcohol, and 475 fewer students having unprotected sex as a result of drinking.
Like UVA, Georgetown has been using the social-norms approach for the past five years. This year, Georgetown will step up its efforts to reduce high-risk drinking on campus, according to Tessa Telly, social norms coordinator for the university’s Health Education Services. She said that a “grand campaign” was underway to inform students about normal drinking behaviors.
The campaign will be run by a group of 10 students as part of the Students Marketing Under-Recognized Facts leadership development program.
Telly said that she has found the social norms campaign at Georgetown to be as equally effective as its counterpart at UVA, but added that the campaign at Georgetown is more student-driven.
According to Telly, students are in charge of designing posters displaying statistics about drinking to be put in residence hall bathrooms. She hopes to have more educational posters in academic buildings and athletic facilities within the next month.
The main concern of the campaign is to keep students informed about making safe choices and to give them recreational opportunities that do not involve drinking.
Telly said SMURF will be sponsoring activities on the weekends as an alternative to drinking on campus. “If the environment encourages excessive drinking, we want to do something about that,” she said.
In addition to Georgetown and UVA, Virginia Commonwealth University, California State University at Fresno, the University of Florida, Michigan State University and Florida State University will be working with the NSNI.
