College campuses are seeing students with BORGs. BORG is short for "Black Out Rage Gallon". Students are taking gallon jugs (think for water, milk, iced tea) and filling them with liquor and a mixer and using it has their drink for a party or event.
First and foremost, underage drinking is illegal and should never be promoted in any context. Abstinence from drinking is the safest way to prevent alcoholism, black outs, physical harm, risk to safety, and more.
Something we know is that high school students typically adopt the college culture they perceive to be cool. And BORGs are trending on TikTok. So we need to stay informed. From a risk reduction standpoint, there are some pros to BORG (again, drinkers should be 21+) but of course there are some major cons.
Pros
- You made it so you know what is in your drink, and provided you kept the cap on and with you, the drink isn't spiked. + you can mix with water & electrolytes to stay hydrated better
- Everyone typically has their own, preventing germ spreading.
- You have the opportunity to measure and know what is going in.
Cons
- Most drink "recipes" call for 1/5 of liquor which is WAY too much alcohol. About 17 shots/standard drinks
- Most people guesstimate and free pour - not realizing how much liquor is going in
- The name BORG standing for black out rage gallon, we do not want to promote black out culture - it is HIGHLY dangerous
- Most drink "recipes" call for a caffeinated beverage (like energy drinks) which is very dangerous. Alcohol is a depressant and caffeine is a stimulant. When you mix the two, the stimulant can can somewhat cancel out the depressant impact making the drinker feel less drunk and not realize how intoxicated they are - increasing the risk of alcohol poisoning
If your student is using BORGs, talk to them about this. Bring up your concerns. Remind them that there is no rush to drink so young. They're only about 1/8 of the way through their life right now. Plenty of time later once they're legal, their brain is fully developed, and their liver is fully developed.
