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Objective
To aid students in looking at why they may or may not drink.

Materials Needed
paper and pencil, marker and newsprint, or chalk and board.

• Session
• Have the group brainstorm a list of reasons why people drink. Have them brainstorm a list of what are the consequences of drinking, both positive and negative. Record these answers on newsprint for everyone to see. Go over the lists and highlight the costs/benefits. See if the consequences of drinking measure up to the reasons why people drink. The following are typical responses:
  1. Some benefits or perceived benefits: to have fun, to get drunk, to be social, for health benefits, to get a buzz, peer pressure, thirsty, to get loose, to escape problems, to treat oneself for an accomplishment, to celebrate.
  2. Some consequences: get drunk, have fun, alcohol poisoning, death, get a buzz, car crash, fight, headache, hangover, increased health, decreased health.
• Ask those in the group that drink if they are getting out of it what they want, or are they getting some consequences that are unwanted as well. Please note that there are health benefits to drinking alcohol. Research indicates that people who drink in moderation live healthier and longer lives than those people who abstain or abuse alcohol.
• You may also wish to highlight alcohol policy and law found at the following websites:
  http://www2.ncsu.edu/prr/campus_environ/health_safety_welfare/POL04.20.2.php,
  Alcohol law information http://www.ncsu.edu/stud_affairs/legal_services/legaldocs/Alcoholinfolaws.htm