It is no secret that many college students love to drink alcohol. Unfortunately, sometimes they drink too much and they end up in the back of a Cadillac hearse.
That’s exactly what happened with one freshman at Northwestern University last year. Matthew Sunshine, a 19-year-old from Cold Spring Harbor, New York, was found dead one year ago today. He died of excessive alcohol intoxication according to the autopsy report.
But something good is actually coming from his death. Students at the Stony Brook University, the school where his mother is a faculty member, got together and formed the Red Watch Band program. The program is designed to teach students that “it can be deadly to let a friend who’s had too much to drink sleep it off.”
Many students and faculty members at various Illinois colleges have requested the training materials for the Red Watch Band program. When a participant completes the program, they are given a red watch band to symbolize that they are looking out for their peers when they drink.
Having a “few beers” as a college student is normal. But letting your friends drink until they pass out is not a good thing. You never know if they are overdoing it and if the night will end up with a hearse taking them away. Be a responsible friend and stop them when they have had enough. It’s the right thing to do.
