No matter who you are, when you think of college, probably one of the first things that comes to your mind is partying and drinking alcohol. Obviously not every single college student does this, but the majority do, and everyone knows it-the students, the staff, the parents, the media. It's just an accepted fact that drinking, in some way, is going to be part of the college experience for most.
This doesn't stop the schools from trying to find new ways to prevent underage students from engaging in this behavior. I'm absolutely not saying that schools should allow underage drinking or encourage it in any way-but what I am saying is that what schools are doing right now is not working.
Letters to parents, academic probation, written warnings, mandatory education classes, suspension from residence halls and even being kicked out of school-does any of this actually teach anyone not to drink anymore? Has any college student ever met anyone who stopped drinking because they truly learned a lesson from getting in trouble? What's much more likely is meeting someone who, since being reprimanded for an alcohol violation, has become paranoid and nervous all the time about getting in trouble to the point where they don't want to do anything anymore or don't enjoy their school experience.
In my year and a half so far in college, I have known of people who have received punishments for being around people who were consuming alcohol legally, for being in a room where empty alcohol bottles were found in the trash (unbeknownst to the students visiting the room), for being falsely accused of doing irresponsible things while drinking, and for alcohol being found in their rooms during surprise room inspections.
Despite all this, I haven't met one student who has made the decision to stop drinking after this or been grateful they were caught and properly reprimanded. Instead, I know students who are now embarrassed, paranoid, and feel they are walking on eggshells. These policies are dangerous for people who can lose their jobs, leadership positions, scholarships, team memberships, and housing for simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
The overwhelming majority of those who get "caught" in these situations weren't aware that what they were doing was even against the rules. Of course everyone knows they can't drink if they're under 21, but how should they know the vague and strange policies included somewhere deep in the 500 page student handbook? When basically all that says is that student punishments are determined on a "case by case basis".Meaning that more or less the school can do whatever they want depending on how the employee personally feels about the student in the situation? Am I the only one who sees the problem here?
At my school, underage students can't be caught in a room where over 21 year olds are drinking, even if the underage student doesn't drink. You can be written up for empty alcohol bottles being used for art projects. You can't even have shot glasses (even if you're over 21 in a wet building) or ping pong balls or red solo cups. No seriously, you can get an alcohol violation on your record for being caught with an empty red solo cup. And I know my school isn't the only place where this happens.
The girls down the hall from me still throw their parties every weekend, the freshmen still sneak quietly into each other's rooms on Thirsty Thursday, and the upperclassmen still make up new drinking games every other night. No one has stopped drinking because of these rules and no one is going to any time soon. But we are all paranoid and walking on eggshells and afraid that the next friend's room we decide to hang out in at night is going to be the next one busted, and the consequences are growing more and more serious.
Again, I don't mean to suggest in any way that college students should be drinking or should be allowed to, but there has to be a much better way to manage what's going on rather than slamming undeserving students with ridiculous punishments.
