Important Facts for Parents

There are three distinct stages in which you, as a parent or legal guardian, contribute in critical ways to the decision-making involving your college-bound son or daughter as well as the decision-making that continues to take place while they are away at school.

1. Parents of a High School Student—Choosing the Right College
2. Parents of a College Freshman—Staying Involved
3. Parents of a College Student Facing an Alcohol-Related Crisis—Getting Assistance

A number of environmental influences working in concert with other factors may affect students' alcohol consumption. Excessive alcohol use is more likely to occur in colleges:

• Where Greek systems dominate (i.e., fraternities, sororities)
• Where athletic teams are prominent
• Located in the Northeast

A Call to Action: Changing the Culture of Drinking At U.S. Colleges, the final report of the Task Force of the National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, provides science-based information and solutions.