As far back as history has been recorded, every culture has celebrated the arrival of spring, including the ancient Greeks and Romans whose parties venerated Dionysus & Bacchus -- the Greek and Roman gods of wine.

Spring break as we know began in 1936 when a swimming coach from Colgate University in frigid Upstate New York decided to take his team down to Florida for some early training at a brand-new Olympic-size pool in sunny Fort Lauderdale.

In 1960, MGM released Where The Boys Are, a blockbuster romantic comedy that followed four female students during their spring vacation. The film spread the tale of college students voyaging to the halcyon shores of Florida to find fun, sun, and maybe even true love. Seemingly overnight the numbers of students visiting Fort Lauderdale over spring vacation jumped from 20,000 to 50,000.

During World War II, Fort Lauderdale became home to a new crop of partiers -- wealthy Ivy Leaguers who traditionally partied in the Caribbean, but who had been scared off my rumors of German submarine activity in that area.

Between 1.5 and 2 million students in the US go on spring break each year. Collectively, they spend over $1 billion.

During the 1970s, a particularly bad spring break ritual was born. Locals called it "balcony diving." Drunk Spring Breakers would climb from balcony to balcony on multi-storied hotel towers, looking for a party or a partner. Many fell to their deaths.

With 75% of students reporting never or rarely using a condom on spring break, often as a result of drinking, your chances for an unexpected pregnancy or STD are pretty high.

Florida maintained a drinking age of 18 until 1985 when it was forced by the National Minimum Drinking Age Act to raise the age for purchase and public possession to 21 or lose 10% of its federal highway funds.

With only a few thousand residents, South Padre Island has consistently drawn between 80,000 and 120,000 spring breakers each year since the early 1980s.

"Alternative spring breaks" allow students to serve communities in a meaningful way. They can travel, meet new people, and feel the satisfaction that comes from working to improve communities.