ATHENS - The University of Georgia's alcohol education program, which the school has used for about 20 years, has made little difference in students' drinking habits, a study has found.
Until this school year, students who were arrested or violated the student conduct code for an alcohol-related offense were required to take Prime for Life, an alcohol and drug intervention program. The program involves lessons, workbook exercises, group activities, counselor meetings and an exit test.
But in a 2005 study, UGA health workers re-interviewed students after they finished the Prime for Life program and found that students reported that their drinking habits were about the same both two weeks and three months after the program as they were before.
Students reported hangovers, memory loss, missed classes and sickness or injury at about the same rate as before they entered the program, according to the study.
Students came to the program with the attitude that if they were drinking less than their peers, they were drinking responsibly or moderately, said former health center educator Michael Shutt, who headed the study. Even if the students were drinking 10 drinks four nights a week, they often believed being responsible meant not having 15 or 20 drinks and not drinking and driving, Shutt said.
Since 2002, about 350 students per year who were caught for alcohol-related offenses such as DUI, fighting and underage drinking have had to take the Prime for Life program, which costs the student $90.
Georgia and seven other states also use Prime for Life as a court-ordered sanction for DUI offenders, who can take the course at drug counseling centers and special DUI schools.
The study did show, however, that after participating in the program, students better understood appropriate drinking levels and the risks associated with alcohol, Shutt said.
When UGA first required students to take Prime for Life in the 1980s, it was the only alcohol intervention program of its kind, Shutt said. And while more programs have been established in the past few years, few have a proven track record for improving students' drinking habits, he said.
UGA staff are not ready to drop Prime for Life right away because it has a long history and they are invested in it, UGA alcohol and drug educator Erin English said. But because of the study's results, health center staff are exploring other options before replacing it with another unproved program.
``We don't expect a 10-hour program to change people's lives,'' English said, adding that one single approach never does.
But a combination of programs and sanctions should make a difference, English said.
With hundreds of students caught every year for underage drinking and other alcohol-related offenses, UGA officials have changed several polices over the past several months to try to curb irresponsible drinking.
Beginning this semester, all new students must take an online alcohol education course before registering for the second semester. The university also has started notifying parents and putting students on probation the first time they violate the school's alcohol policies.
And in January, UGA police began sending underage students caught drinking to the Clarke County Jail instead of simply issuing a citation.
Tuesday
July 22nd, 2025
2:00AM
