Girls Going Wild…and Damaging Their Health
March 8, 2006
A new poll by the American Medical Association (AMA) shows that alcohol and sex play a prominent and potentially dangerous role in spring break trips of college women. Eighty-three percent of the respondents agreed spring break trips involve more or heavier drinking than occurs on college campuses and 74 percent said spring break trips result in increased sexual activity.
Key findings of the poll include:
- A majority (74 percent) of respondents said women use drinking as an excuse for outrageous behavior.
- More than half of women (57 percent) agree being promiscuous is a way to fit in.
- More than half (59 percent) know friends who were sexually active with more than one partner.
- Nearly three out of five women know friends who had unprotected sex during spring break.
- One in five respondents regretted the sexual activity they engaged in during spring break, and 12 percent felt forced or pressured into sex.
The study also notes an increase in deaths, rapes, injuries, assaults, and arrests related to drinking in Cancun, Mexico, a major spring break destination for American college students. And in Daytona, Fla., another popular spring break destination, county officials note that twice as many rape cases are reported during the month of spring break.
“Spring break is broken,” said Dr. J. Edward Hill, president of the AMA.. “What was a traditional time to relax and take a break from college studies has turned into a dangerous binge-fest.”
Such warnings, though, are likely to fall on deaf ears. In an interview with the AP, Kathleen Fitzgerald, a 21-year-old junior at Illinois State University, said the AMA’s effort to raise awareness is a good idea, but probably won’t do much to curb drinking during spring break. “I think a lot of students wouldn’t really pay that much attention to it,” Fitzgerald said. “They would just be like, ‘Duh, that’s why we do it.'”
