The Death of Spring Break?

(MoneyWatch)  While many college students used to head to sunny spots like Ft. Lauderdale and Palm Springs, Calif. for Spring Break, several of those same communities have made them feel unwelcome. Not so in Mexico, where more than 100,000 teenagers and young adults are courted each year by its ocean resorts -- welcoming drinking binges, high-jinks and all.
But this year, the U.S. State Department is issuing warnings to college students about traveling across the border, and three Arizona universities asked students not to go to Mexico because of escalating drug-trafficking violence. Universities as far as Notre Dame and Penn State have also been warning students not to go south of the border.

Many tour operators and travel industry professionals say there's little to worry about since most of the activity is along the border and not in most of Mexico's tourist and coastal areas. (Aside from Acalpulco, that is.)

"Cancun has always been one of our most popular destinations and that hasn't changed this year," Patrick Evans of STA Travel told the Associated Press. "Many of the packages we offer include lodging on the beach and in very nice resorts that take the utmost pride in making sure customers are safe."

While the latest State Department's warning on Mexico does ask tourists to stay away from areas known for prostitution and drug dealing or risk their lives -- common sense, really -- its warning to Spring Break travelers is even more relatively simple.

"Alcohol is involved in the vast majority of arrests, accidents, violent crimes, rapes, and deaths suffered by American students on Spring Break."

Drug-trafficking, while serious, will not lead to most of the injuries or legal problems faced by those on Spring Break. Alcohol probably will.

The State Department warning should be taken seriously, especially by those who routinely travel through border towns. But as for the rest of Mexico, Americans should take care that some sound advice doesn't heighten into hysteria.

Photo of Beach Party in Mazatlan Courtesy of Sun Splash Tours