August 8, 2003

Study Questions Effectiveness of Popular Approach to Reducing Student Drinking

By JEFFREY R. YOUNG

An increasingly popular approach to curbing student drinking -- called "social norms" -- does not work, according to a study by Harvard University's School of Public Health.

But researchers who favor the approach say that the Harvard study is flawed and that other studies have proved the effectiveness of social norms. Colleges using a social-norms approach run campaigns highlighting the relatively low drinking levels of average students to show that, contrary to student

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