This Ain't Your Daddy's (or Mommy's) College
I did my undergraduate work at Arizona State University - heralded for many years as one of the premier party schools in the nation, if not the world. Not being a party animal, I missed out on the party aspect of ASU, but I trust that it did - and does - exist in all it's storied glory. The problem being, of course, that many of the folks doing the partying are not legally old enough to drink. Arizona's drinking age is 21, and that hasn't changed in quite a while, and isn't likely to. But that doesn't stop plenty of younger folks from enjoying alcohol on and around campus.
Colleges across the country are struggling with how best to deal with this reality. A growing trend is to inform parents anytime their underage son or daughter is caught with alcohol. I favor this approach - probably because I wasn't a party animal. But partly because I think our culture has a very peculiar split personality in regards to underage drinking.
On the one hand, data overwhelmingly seems to support the idea that the less drinking that underage people do, the safer they are. Look here, or here, or here. The article cited above references the fatalities that can occur on or around campus from drinking too much, or drinking related accidents.
On the other hand, alcohol is viewed by many as a relatively harmless rite of passage. It's an expected part of the college experience - perhaps in part because many parents have fond (or hazy) memories of their own adventures in drinking during college. The article above cites concerns about how students are to develop their independence if their parents can be called in for alcohol violations.
So when are we going to culturally make up our minds? Now that raucous spring break traditions extend to high school and not just college? Now that the assumption seems to be all too often that this is just part of the college experience. Let's not deny them a little fun? Are there situations where informing parents of a student's drinking infraction would seem pointless, unreasonable, or counter-productive?
Colleges across the country are struggling with how best to deal with this reality. A growing trend is to inform parents anytime their underage son or daughter is caught with alcohol. I favor this approach - probably because I wasn't a party animal. But partly because I think our culture has a very peculiar split personality in regards to underage drinking.
On the one hand, data overwhelmingly seems to support the idea that the less drinking that underage people do, the safer they are. Look here, or here, or here. The article cited above references the fatalities that can occur on or around campus from drinking too much, or drinking related accidents.
On the other hand, alcohol is viewed by many as a relatively harmless rite of passage. It's an expected part of the college experience - perhaps in part because many parents have fond (or hazy) memories of their own adventures in drinking during college. The article above cites concerns about how students are to develop their independence if their parents can be called in for alcohol violations.
So when are we going to culturally make up our minds? Now that raucous spring break traditions extend to high school and not just college? Now that the assumption seems to be all too often that this is just part of the college experience. Let's not deny them a little fun? Are there situations where informing parents of a student's drinking infraction would seem pointless, unreasonable, or counter-productive?
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