It’s another day of class and not knowing whether to put on a jacket and scarf or shorts and flip flops in Norfolk. By now, we are all over this bipolar weather and school! As we’re dragging back to work and classes, try to keep your head up by remembering that Monday, you can sleep in because it’s spring break!
Source: Giphy
Whether you’re headed down to Florida, out of the country, back home to mom’s or staying on campus for the Migos concert, this break is much needed! While spring break means fun in the sun, you should be mindful about the dangers that are lurking in the shade.
Spring break is certainly a time to let loose and have as much fun as you possibly can in seven days! However, many people see it as a time to get as wasted as they possibly can and not even remember half of their break. While partying may be as much of a ritual as spring break itself, that doesn’t mean you should drink every day or get black out drunk when you do. Just about every issue that occurs over spring break starts with a drunk person.
According the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 11 percent of students drink to the point of blacking out over spring break. While 11 percent may not seem like a huge percentage, that’s over two million people. Being so drunk you become unaware of what’s going on around you is like walking into a pitch black room full of obstacles and expecting not to trip over something. It opens the door for more dangers than you could ever imagine.
Source: Gihpy
Whether you’re on vacation, campus or back at home with all your high school friends, you could still end up in a dangerous situation. If someone around you, or yourself, is so drunk that they don’t know what’s going on, it’s not safe. Robert Glatter, MD, said, in an article on Forbes, that 690,000 students are assaulted yearly by another student who has been drinking. While all these assaults don’t occur during spring break, the excessive drinking that occurs throughout the week certainly heightens the chances.
Assault doesn’t stop at fighting. Sexual assault is one of the biggest problems surrounding spring break. Ladies, this year please be mindful of your limits and watch your drink like it’s the hottest guy in the room. According to the CDC, women are more likely to be victims of sexual violence and we’re more likely to get STDs after the fact. We have to be responsible for ourselves, our friends, and any other female we find in a less than ideal or potentially dangerous situation. We’re all best friends when we’re drunk anyways, right?
Source: Giphy
Spring Break is all fun and games until you wake up in the hospital, jail or the wrong bed. We’re not saying you shouldn’t party because you definitely should! College is the time to have fun and live freely! Just remember that life must go on when the week is over and you shouldn’t put yourself in any situation or do anything that would cause your life not to go back to normal.
Source: Giphy