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Wednesday, May 27, 2009

The Gordie Foundation

Haze is a documentary about the death of Gordie Bailey, who died on September 17, 2004 at a fraternity house on the campus of the University of Colorado after passing out from a night of drinking. No one called for help in time to save his life.

His parents started The Gordie Foundation to raise awareness of the epidemic of alcohol abuse and hazing on campuses, as well as to educate students about the need to call for help to save lives. The foundation distributes materials to teach teenagers what symptoms can indicate a need for medical help. Statistics show that a student dies from alcohol abuse almost every five hours.

You can view the entire documentary below. The film includes testimony from educators, legal and medical authorities, as well as interviews with Gordie's friends and family. Haze also explains the social meaning that excessive binge drinking has for some students, as well as the need for parents to educate teens about its consequences. The film contains some graphic scenes of actual incidents of injuries from excessive drinking on campuses.

2 comments:

Nick said...

I was in the Spring Hill College class of 2004, and you wouldn't believe how many had to be rushed to the ER due to alcohol poisoning, and later were kicked out of school for a horrible GPA because they were too busy binge drinking. By the end of freshman year, we'd lost about 50 students, from a class of 2004 of 300 people.

Alcohol is the most dangerous drug in America.

Ruth said...

Hi Nick,
That's so sad. One thing this film points out is that college students today seem to be drinking in ways that exceed past generations. It even described drinking games that include greater amounts of alcohol that were based on drinking games that would be seen as tame now.

Thanks for your comment and take care.