The drinking culture among young adult Americans has caused life-changing and fatal consequences for individuals who are induced to participate in it as well as for their families and communities. The tragic death of Ali Quartaro, an eighteen-year-old girl who died after binge drinking during her first year of college, demonstrates the impact of the binge drinking culture. After struggling to make sense of her daughter’s sudden death, her mother, Kathleen Quartaro, affirmed her support for Choose Responsibility, an organization that aims to “stimulate informed and dispassionate public discussion about the presence of alcohol in American culture and to consider policies that will effectively empower young adults age 18 to 20 to make mature decisions about the place of alcohol in their own lives” (Home). Ali’s death made her mother realize the ineffectiveness of the current drinking age law; further, she declared, “parents should have more of a role in introducing alcohol to their children in a controlled environment” (Kathleen).

Stanton Peele, psychologist and author of “Addiction-Proof Your Child,” supports Quartaro’s belief: Peele states, “preparing your child to drink at home lessens the likelihood that they are going to binge drink,” for “not sharing alcohol with your child is a risk factor for binge drinking” (Pifer). The tragedy of the story of Ali’s death is that it could have been prevented if she had learned safer drinking habits from her parents instead of being thrown into the uncontrolled and unauthorized binge drinking culture at college. On an individual level, the consequences of binge drinking are often fatal; for that, the solution should target intervention within families in order to teach young adults responsible drinking habits instead of learning these habits in dangerous and clandestine settings.

(Drew Farwell, Unsplash)