SO YOU went out to Rugby this weekend, had a little bit too much to drink, and encountered the police on the way home.
Not fun, but really not that big a problem, right? You'll have to face a court date, and possible fines or community service, but in the end, who'll really know?
The question of who will, or should, know of your alcohol or drug related run-ins is being answered at colleges around the country. And many students are not pleased with the answer.
Most students, particularly those living hundreds of miles from home, assume their parents will never here of their college exploits. This is not necessarily true.
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According to the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, parents do not have access to a university's student records without the student's consent. A 1996 amendment, however, states that, while universities are under no obligation to notify parents in cases involving alcohol, they are free to do so.
This amendment has led to confusion about parental notification policies at the University of Missouri, which currently has no policy. The University of Minnesota and University of Wisconsin are reviewing their current policies.
The University's policy, as listed in the 2000-2001 Undergraduate Record, is that parents will be notified by the Office of the Dean of Students when that office is notified that "a University of Virginia student under the age of 21 has been arrested during an academic session for a drug- or alcohol-related violation."
Senior Associate Dean of Students V. Shamim Sisson describes parental notification as only part of the procedure followed in alcohol-related cases, and emphasizes a "commitment to working with the student first." It is a good idea to encourage students to tell their parents if they are in legal trouble. There are, however, problems with making it mandatory and there are advantages to allowing students, particularly first-time offenders, to make their own decisions.
As students move away from home, it is increasingly difficult for even the strictest parents to exercise effective control. Short of cutting off financial support or bringing the student home, there is little parents can do to discipline their children.
Most parents would be wary of these options because they would be detrimental to the student's education. Consequently, notifying parents, while certainly increasing family tension, does not promise to curtail student drinking.
Additionally, each parent is going to react differently to hearing from the Office of the Dean of Students. Some parents will be more than willing to discipline their student. Others expect that their children are going to drink at school, and will not be concerned.
This leads to inconsistent discipline of students. While it may influence a few students' decisions, giving parents the responsibility to discipline their college-aged children will not make a significant impact on drinking at the University as a whole.
Although the Undergraduate Record states that parental notification is "in addition to the intervention and education programs already offered," parental notification takes the responsibility off the University.
If the University is able to claim that they are notifying parents when their children are arrested on alcohol-related charges, they may be less apt to develop programs to cut down on underage drinking at the University. Parental notification shifts the focus from drinking problems at the University at large to one individual's problem.
Parental notification also allows students to avoid dealing with the consequences of their actions on their own. Instead of combining "intervention and education" with parental notification, these things should be combined with action by the police. Students who are mature enough to go to college, and who choose to drink, should be forced to deal with the consequences alone.
Police enforcement and legal consequences are much more likely than parental notification to curtail dangerous activity. Police enforcement is also much more likely to be consistent.
If students are expected to be responsible for their own actions, the University must treat them as independent. This means the University must avoid relying too heavily on parental notification to deter under-age drinking.
(Megan Moyer is a Cavalier Daily columnist.)
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