We  reported that a University of Tennessee/Knoxville student was  hospitalized with a near lethal dose of alcohol, achieved at an event during which he received an alcohol enema.

Inside Higher Ed‘s Alexandra Tilsley details the concerns of campus safety experts on this stunt, which seems to have been popularized by a scene in a “Jackass” movie:

But although the alleged incident at Tennessee has generated nationwide discussion – and disgust – experts say it’s not too surprising, nor is it any more alarming than other binge-drinking behaviors.   And some experts on campus alcohol abuse are worried that the massive publicity over the incident at Tennessee may encourage students to try a very dangerous method of getting drunk — which until now they haven’t seen on their campuses.

“Alcohol consumption among college students at a high level is not surprising,” said Laura Forbes, associate professor of health education at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and chair of the American College Health Association’s Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug Coalition. “They’re always trying to dodge appropriate alcohol metabolism… College students that have the invincibility factor may be willing to try and experiment with different modes and amounts of administration.”

Though perhaps not surprising, alcohol enemas are rare, experts said, and not an immediate issue most universities should need to address.

Anecdotally, Jennifer Bauerle, director of the National Social Norms Institute at the University of Virginia, said she was in a meeting last week, when the “butt-chugging” news broke, with directors of student health, including three physicians, and no one in that meeting had heard of alcohol enemas before.

Similarly, Ken Schneck, dean of students at Marlboro College and co-chair of the Alcohol and Other Drug community of NASPA: Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education, said he asked students on his campus about “butt-chugging,” and most of them “scoffed and rolled their eyes.”

“They said, ‘You have to be an idiot to even contemplate that,’ ” Schneck said.

Tilsley noted that most experts think broad evaluation of alcohol education programs is the appropriate response.

“I’m very fearful for some of my colleagues thinking, ‘We’ve got to put together the alcohol enema workshop,’ ” Schneck said. “We are not going to be able to stop students from trying new things that are amazingly dangerous… so, what is it we can do to empower them to intervene when the next thing comes up?”