We’ve all been there: the dreaded drunk text. It happens to the best of us. The circumstances are irrelevant. It doesn’t matter what time of night it is or what you’re drinking; if your phone is on you while you’re drunk, you will more likely than not text someone. What a relief it is to find out (the next morning) that you just texted a bunch of friends from home, but sometimes it’s much worse. Sometimes you wake up and scroll through your text history and realize you had been badgering your ex for three hours.

For starters, have a friend babysit you. Either have them hold onto your phone for you or at the very least just make sure that they are watching who you are texting. Your best friend could be the only thing between you and telling your ex how much you love them and miss them and want to get back with them.

If you absolutely must keep your phone on you, don’t despair; there is another course of preventative action. This would be to find an alternative to texting on your phone while you’re drunk.. Try playing around with Twitter instead. Not only is it more acceptable to use too many hashtags and more enjoyable for everyone involved to tweet embarrassing drunk photos of you and your friends, people never really seem to mind if you get carried away on Twitter. Sure, you may lose a few followers, but it’s better than texting your dad and telling him that you are wasted beyond belief.

College is difficult enough without the stress of having an outbox filled with regret in the form of awkward and uncomfortable text messages. Drinking isn’t a key to having a social life. You could avoid all of this by avoiding alcohol, especially if you’re underage. Join a club, or come write for The Oswegonian. One of the great things about our community is that there are plenty of activities to pass time with besides drinking. Or if you’re going to drink anyway, just distract yourself .