When students turn an alcohol education course into a drinking game, there must be something going wrong.

Lynne Sallot’s public relations campaign class found the University’s alcohol education program did not discourage student drinking. Photo Illustration by Frances Micklow

Students in Lynne Sallot’s public relations campaigns class this semester conducted research on perceptions of alcohol and drug use at the University. They held focus groups to talk to 160 University students about factors affecting alcohol and drug use, safe transportation after drinking, online alcohol education, awareness of the University’s alcohol and drug policy, and policies at other colleges regarding alcohol and drug policies and education.

The student researchers found that My Student Body, the University’s online alcohol education course that students are required to complete, is considered ineffective and may actually encourage irresponsible drinking.

“Through our focus groups, we found that students felt the My Student Body course was ineffective. People thought that it was a joke,” said team leader Mary-Kerstin Lindqvist, a senior public relations and fashion merchandising major. “Our most surprising finding was that some

students turned it into a drinking game and did it with friends.”

Other students in the focus groups said the My Student Body course taught them how to get drunk faster by mixing alcohol with caffeine.

“I thought it was great!” said one student in the focus group, quoted in the PR class’s research report. “It taught me all sorts of new tricks for drinking so I didn’t look so naïve coming into college!”

The researchers also asked students about their perceptions of safe transportation after drinking.

Most students knew the dangers of driving drunk, but many were also concerned about the safety of taxis. The researchers met with Athens-Clarke County Police and learned there are already regulations for taxis and taxi drivers.

The student researchers emphasized safety and moderation in drinking rather than abstinence.

“I felt that students are going to make their own decisions about alcohol and drugs, but it’s important to know the consequences,” said Eleni Herrington, a senior public relations major and member of the research team. “A lot of seniors don’t know the alcohol policy has changed since we were freshmen.”

The University’s alcohol policy now has more flexibility, she said. Before, “any type of infraction was a strike. Now, they give more weight to more serious offenses.”

This semester’s class was the first in a series of public relations classes that will work on a campaign to promote better alcohol education at the University, Herrington said.

Students taking the course in the fall will implement changes based on the research gathered this semester.

After talking to students at the University and studying alcohol education programs at other colleges, Lindqvist said she and the other researchers thought a program based on personal testimonials would be more effective.

Their research suggests the University start a program similar to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s ACE IT, which combines a theatrical performance and discussions led by older students to educate new students about alcohol.

“We were looking more at a personalized approach than big lectures,” Herrington said. “If they felt the campaign was coming from other students, they might be more receptive.”