Universities Target Rape Prevention Through Alcohol Awareness Program

10/5/2009

R.H. Reality

By Wendy Norris

Which makes the national rape and non-consensual sex incidences among college students all the more shocking.

To Jane Curtis the challenge is not to convince young people not to partake in drinking but to heighten LGBT and straight students' personal knowledge about risk-taking behavior and awareness of non-alcoholic campus activities

Last year, Curtis, who heads the University of Colorado-Boulder's Alcohol and Other Drugs Program, convinced school officials last year to take part in AlcoholEdu, confidential online alcohol awareness for incoming freshman that integrates information about sexual assault risks.

A Boston-based public health company developed the program in 2000, and today reaches more than 500,000 students at 500 American colleges and universities each year — or about 20 percent of the total private nonprofit and state-backed four-year degree granting schools. The modules also anticipate the students' educational needs. As respondents reply to questions, teetotaling students take a different curriculum than those who admit to some, heavy or binge drinking. Curtis notes that the online segments can also be customized to embed information and links to campus-specific resources.

The sexual assault section begins in chapter two. The module runs the gamut from reading student-generated questions in an advice column format, busting common myths, discussing consent and boundary-setting, and providing tips on how to intervene in situations that could lead to unwanted sexual contact.

In just its second year of implementation at CU-Boulder, more than 3,500 students, or nearly 70 percent, of first-year students participated in the voluntary program this semester. And Curtis said it's already having a dramatic effect.

"There is a greater understanding that the person who is sexually assaulted is less responsible for the event," said Curtis since students learned that both perpetrators and victims have frequently consumed alcohol prior to the incident and that giving true consent is unlikely when under the influence.

She also noted another encouraging trend: 260 students asked to get more information from student organizations advocating for sexual assault prevention on campus.

To Nathan Wickstrum, AlcoholEdu is decidedly not like D.A.R.E., the anti-drug and alcohol program ridiculed by kids as a modern-day "Reefer Madness" scare tactic favored by local police departments. Instead, it's geared toward interactive game-savvy young people with a blunt, no holds-bared reality television sensibility.

The Ojai, Calif., native and CU-Boulder freshman was impressed with the sexual assault module. "It was one of the main focuses of the program. They [explained] very specific forms of it and how to be okay before you do anything with anyone," said Wickstrum who participated in the program before he arrived on campus in August. "When we got to school, we covered it again in an actual class setting and most kids were taking it very seriously."

Obtaining thoughtful responses is critical to the science-based Web tool because it feeds the world's largest database on college student drinking behavior.

Those responses, segmented by campus respondents, are provided to schools to improve specific policies on alcohol use and enhance personal safety for students.

Based on first year data, CU-Boulder is already expanding alcohol-free student activities, like the Sobriety Weekend Challenge, coed-intramural sports and events that integrate students into the Boulder community at-large, that challenge the campus party culture that frequently lead to risky situations.