April 17, 2019
911黑料网 students play water pong at the annual 911黑料网 Wellness Fair. The water pong table was part of a student project offering education about binge drinking as part of Professor Nicole Porther's Health Promotion and Planning course.
911黑料网 Assistant Professor of Biology Nicole Porther鈥檚 Health Promotion and Planning class recently got the opportunity to put their knowledge to work at the College鈥檚 annual Wellness Fair.
Every spring, the 911黑料网 MountainOne Student Wellness Center coordinates a campus wide event that brings together health educators and health promotion information from 911黑料网 staff as well as the surrounding community. This semester, Porther鈥檚 students joined those health professionals, offering information about binge drinking as well as some interactive opportunities to learn about its negative effects.
Students prepared pamphlets using Google Docs, collecting information on the dangers of binge drinking, and organized a water pong table incorporating stats about binge drinking in college. They also helped promote the Wellness Fair generally, creating posters to be placed on campus and through social media. Then, the day of the fair, they took turns staffing the table.
鈥淐onsidering the short period of time we had to put things together, I think our booth was fairly successful,鈥� said Kendal Haley 鈥�19. 鈥淚 almost think it was better that it was us and our classmates鈥攖hey know what we鈥檙e doing because they see us out and about.鈥�
Being able to get this kind of information from a peer can be easier than walking up to a health care professional鈥攁nd it may also make them more likely to absorb that information, which was the goal. 鈥淚 think students are more receptive to their peers, rather than a professor or an older adult,鈥� said Dorianna Reardon 鈥�19.
Offering options and useful information to people so they can make their own choices is what health education is about, Porther says鈥斺�渟o they do things responsibly, and make sure the environment is conducive for responsible behavior.鈥�
鈥淵ou have to communicate and get your message out there,鈥� said Porther. 鈥淔or example, public health officials don鈥檛 say 鈥榙on鈥檛 have sex.鈥� They say 鈥榟ave sex responsibly.鈥�
鈥淭he point was to educate about binge drinking,鈥� said Haley. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not about saying they shouldn鈥檛 do it. You know they鈥檙e going to do it鈥攚e want to educate them, so they can be safe about it. Whether they read the pamphlet is their own choice鈥攚e picked facts that were relatable to college students. We wanted to dig deeper and say, 鈥榶ou鈥檙e not invincible, and you need to deal with these problems now.鈥�
