As soon as you arrive at Queen’s during Frosh week you know that there is a strong drinking culture. From the “you honk, we drink” signs hanging from packed houses, to beer pong games being played on front lawns, the message is clear: students at Queen’s have a lot of fun and drinking is definitely part of that. Social media plays this up as well with the hundreds of snaps of people chugging from their red solo cups. I, myself, have posted videos like these. Most students have. That’s the culture of binge drinking in our society today. Drinking to the limit is accepted and encouraged.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not writing this article to lecture or condemn binge drinking. If I were to do that I would be a hypocrite. I am guilty of drinking past my tolerance sometimes, and joining in on the encouragement of others. I don’t think that this “binge culture” is necessarily going to change anytime soon, and I don’t know how it would. People are very accustomed to the pressures of having the highest amount of fun at all times, and drinking a sizable amount usually goes hand in hand with that. The thing that I wish to see improve and be given more acknowledgment is that students should be more equipped when their friends are a danger to themselves.
Recently, a family friend passed away after hitting his head while drinking. I don’t know all the details of that night, but he died due to this head injury, and his friends simply thought he was throwing up from drinking too much. He was 20 years old and enjoying his first week of university. As students, we constantly hear about people throwing up during a night of drinking, and it’s usually a story that ends with laughter. Pushing yourself to your body’s limits has become desensitized. If a night ends roughly, friends might laugh, shrug it off, get some McDonald’s and drink again the next night.
I think that we need to be better educated as a collective on the signs that a friend, or stranger you meet outside of Stages, might be in more danger than sleeping on the bathroom floor. My mom said to me, “If there is ever any doubt, call 911.” You never know if someone you see throwing up is doing so due to them hitting their head earlier in the night. If my family friend had gone to the hospital earlier, the result might have been very different.
It is important to be aware of how you and your friends are doing while going out. If someone has fallen and hit their head, don’t shrug it off and assume they’re fine. Watch them, help them, and if there is any thought that it might have been harmful, or that they are suffering from alcohol poisoning, take them to the hospital. No one will be upset if you are wrong. Don’t try to justify them throwing up by guessing that they drank too much; assume the worst in order to prevent the worst.
I hope that this does not come across as a lecture on drinking. Drinking is fun and usually leads to great nights and fun memories. However, when people no longer have control, and put themselves in dangerous, life threatening situations, we, as a collective, need to know when to step in and help. If anything can be learned from this tragedy, it’s that we are capable of preventing these fates, and that if there is ever any doubt, you should act on it.