February 28, 2010
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Underaged Drinking at College
I was reading an article that indicated more colleges are notifying parents when a student is caught drinking underaged.
For example, at Virginia Tech, school officials will notify parents if a beer is found in a dorm room.
At first I thought it was a violation of the privacy of the students sense they were adults. But according to the article, Congress passed a law in the 1990s that “changed student privacy laws to lower barriers to parental notification in cases involving students under 21.” This was done to prevent underaged drinking. Here is the link: Link
Do you think a college should notify parents if a student is found with a beer?
Comments (88)
No, because maybe it’s not a beer bottle. Maybe it’s root beer that looks like beer.
@Queen_of_You188 - FIRST
wtf no…
My parents always told me be careful and not to get caught.
-shrugs- The students will just get better at not getting caught. How many parents would expect otherwise anyways?
Heh, reminds me; I got kicked out of the dorms for showing up to the door at 2 AM naked with a half-empty bottle of Jack Daniels.
And, you know, it was the RA who’d been knocking at my door. With campus cops.
Ooops.
Definitely. How is it a privacy issue if it’s school property anyway? That doesn’t change the fact that these kids are breaking the law and their parents have a right to know since they’re basically PAYING for their kids to go drinking behind their backs, I MEAN tuition. >>
yes, they should
oh and GO TECH
we are all hokies <3 RIP nicole white, you are missed everyday.
No, not really. I actually think the drinking age should be 18.
@ShimmerBodyCream - LOL ur parents be cool! XD
I think they should either change the age of adulthood to 21, or change the age you’re legal to drink to 18.
No. They’re legal adults and the parents are no longer legally responsible for them. The drinking age of 21 is too high anyway (well, it would be OK if you got all your other rights at 21 instead of 18. Pick one age of majority, be it 18 or 21, and be consistent. You want the drinking age to be 21, raise the military, voting, smoking, etc. age to 21 as well).
I think it’s kind of silly that if you are at age 20, with an empty beer bottle in your room, that they can tell mommy and daddy on you. :/ But at the same time, I kinda agree.
i was gonna post about this,about drinking in college anyway, now that i’m a parent the question is harder to answer.
The drinking age is stupid anyway, so why not carry the fuckheadery over to other aspects of it.
Parents could be held liable if their minor child injures or kills someone while driving drunk. Schools can be held liable if an underage student kills or injures himself while drinking. So yes, I think it’s appropriate for a parent to be notified. It’s up to them how to handle it. I wouldn’t have gotten too worked up over one beer.
i say there should be a number of warnings before a parent is notified. like one or two should be let by, but three times is when the parents should at least be told. most parents are paying for their students education, food, and housing so they should at least be notified about their child’s safety. some kids may disagree due to privacy being broken, but hey if you want the privacy i say take all the responsibility with your life and support yourself. that way it shows you are mature and are not dependent on others… but if you don’t then isn’t a real surprise that someone who you are dependent on wants to know if you are safe or not
No.
The problem isn’t notification, but the unrealistic age for legal drinking. 21?
If the parentals are footing the college bill, they have every right to know. Otherwise, no. These kids are grown-ups. Let them make their own mistakes and pay real-world consequences for them.
Any student who’s caught with a beer is just not trying hard enough to hide it. Heck, you almost have to try to get caught with a beer.
I used to work in dorms, and yes I think this rule is fair. The alternative is to report the student to the police and/or cancel their contract. Notifying parents is small potatoes compared to that.
Their house their rules?
I wouldn’t necessarily say its an age matter here. They are on the school’s property. If they were in their own apartment or something, then we’d have a completely different matter. But this is school’s property and they have rules, which you agree to when you live there. So, yes, in this case i do believe its acceptable.
Though i also believe the drinking age should be lowered to 18 if you’re allowed to die for our country or marry at 18.
No, they’re considered an adult by law, so why does the school need to notify parents.
yes…Most kids are in college on their parents money so they are still playing the game of life by their paretn’s rules. No beer until they foot the bill!
@Queen_of_You188 - I’m pretty sure RAs know the difference between root beer and beer. They don’t live under a rock…
Id rather a college spend their time doing other more productive things…. also it would be really hard to prove whose beer it was.
Underage drinking is against the law. If they’re over 18 and under 21 and caught drinking, they’re breaking the law. If they’re adults, they should be treated and prosecuted as such. Call the cops on them. You do the crime, you do the time.
yeah I knew abt this…..having lived in a dorm. theres three strikes youre allowed to have before they kick you out.
the first time is a warning with a letter sent to the rents
the second is a write up
third: peace and goodluck finding somewhere else to live during the semester
No, I don’t think so. Regardless of what they should or shouldn’t be doing they are still 18 and what their parents think of their bad behavior doesn’t matter.
Uhm yes, Parents should know if their kid is misbehaving ON school grounds. So, if there happens alcohol visible then yes, tell the parents. That’s part of the contract you sign when you agree to move into the dorms.
I’m sure the kids are probably more intimidated by what their parents will think/say so yeah, they should tell them to prevent it from happening again. But, some college students could really care less.
.If the child is still a dependent of the parents, sure. The parents have a right to know when their child broke the law. And I’m saying this as a current college student; we may be adults in the eyes of the law but a lot of us are still basically children.
Just notifying though is nothing. At my school, your parents are notified by a drinking ticket that costs at least $325 being sent home.
I think the drinking age should be lowered.
everyone does it anyway and cops really don’t give a fucking shit.
I don’t even drink but pretty much everyone I know does and they’re definitely not 21.
HOKIESSS
Tech is pretty hardcore on their rules, though.
`NO!!!
No. That’s ridiculous. They’re adults now and don’t need the school and their parents to continue babysitting them.
no way……
what? you’re 18, you can join the army, you can go to jail, but still have to be treated like a highschooler? it’s call learning from your mistakes, not having your parents “grounding” you (I don’t even know how that would work if you’re at college).
lol. If they get caught it’s their fault. This law is a test of ninja skills, obviously.
i guess so, because its the school’s property anyway.
Yes. They shouldn’t be drinking in the first place. As silly as it sounds “rules are rules“
I thought you go to jail or something if you got caught drinking underage. What I don’t understand is how there are so many people drinking underage. Apparently people don’t like to follow the rules.
That’s rediculous. Not only is it not going to stop underage drinking, but they’re adults and it’s unnecessary.
wooot so many college posts recently!
what is this i don’t even.
i thought college was made for partying & drinking!
…and educating yourself, of course.
There should be warnings.
Unlike public school, your association with your college is entirely voluntary. If you don’t want to live by their rules, you don’t have to.
@darkoozeripple - I couldn’t agree more. I remember when I first when into the military at 18 and my first duty station was Japan. At 18 you can drink there and I have to say it just made sense to me.
I say yes. Parents send their kids to school to learn, not binge drink. Alcohol poisoning is crazy in colleges. Plus you’re on school property & there are rules to obey. If you’re off campus, that’s different.
@sexncookies - The letter & the assbeating those kids will get would scare anyone sober! Not kidding here, to pay for the dorm AND schooling? My kids wouldnt even THINK about touching liquor until their graduation.
in my opinion kids shouldn’t be considered adults until their 24/25 because that’s when their brain is fully developed!
plus there is a logical reason why the age is 21 and up; it messes up your brain’s chemistry to drink under the age of 21 & up!
so based upon these facts I say “yes”
besides the parents are paying for the college & they have the right to know!
Unless the parents are the ones paying tuition for the student’s education, no way!
The obvious thing to prevent this is just not to drink underage (or just don’t get caught!) lol!
I think students need to get better about hiding their booze.
I remember about 10 years ago–Michigan State started enforcing the 21 year old age limit on campus. The underclassmen exercised their right to peacefully assemble–’cept they got carried away–they overturned cars and burned sofas on the street. Guess they showed the administrators–don’t interfere with the students’ privilege to get wasted and destroy property.
@logicalemu - you will be able to study this art in detail at vet college.
@darkoozeripple - Hardly…I’m not going to vet school (that would be my sister, actually)…and I’m legal everywhere in Canada and don’t tend to hang out with people younger than me…well I don’t tend to hang out with people much at all.
FUCK NO!!!!! the colleges should be happy that people are giving them money to attend the college lol
@logicalemu - I’m going to get you a blowup person. How’s my review coming?
@darkoozeripple - The blowup person just sounds horribly wrong. I have animals to hang out with, don’t need people. And the review isn’t coming currently because midterms at school apparently must take priority over everything else in life, including personal sanity. It should come in the next week or two though.
@logicalemu - I do get a whiff of you being very sad and serious tonight…. ????
@darkoozeripple - Just a whiff? I thought my seriousness was stinking up the whole place…
No.
I’m alright with the practice. I was caught with alcohol in a dorm my freshman year and my parents got a notification. They weren’t really too mad considering I was drinking on campus as opposed to at a house and driving home under the influence.
Well I ‘thought’ you were an adult at the age ’18′ so the college should NOT call your parents if your over 18 just because your under 21.
@logicalemu - it might, if this place wasn’t a reeking cave already. Plenty of farts around here, most of them going on two legs.
sure
If the kid is over 18, it’s none of the parent’s business. If you’re breaking the law by drinking underage, the penalty should be delivered to YOU, not your parents [unless you're under 18].
Only if the parents are paying for the dorm room.
I don’t know if it would help but, if they’re still dependent, why not? The kid usually signs a contract or something stating if they’re underage they won’t drink in the dorm. Also, they ARE underage, so either don’t drink or don’t get caught, it’s that simple. It’s the law. Also, they should follow the school’s rules.
Well, according to law, they are to be considered adults. So instead of contacting parents, they should contact police?
Also, you made another error. (shame on you!)
“At first I thought it was a violation of the privacy of the students sense they were adults.”
You misused “sense” where you should have used “since.”
u can go to war when your 17 but u cant drink til your 21. law lacks common sense
Yep.
Who is paying for the college education? If the parents are paying, then I believe they have a right to know. They can choose whether or not to act on the info.
YEP.
I have always found it strange that we consider college the “responsible” thing for a young person to do, yet continue to treat them like children for another four years. If someone graduates high school and goes to work at McDonald’s who tells on him to mommy and daddy? Who is actually learning how to function on their own in society?
let’s prolong adolescence even LONGER because it’s not long and miserable enough already! Wheeeee!
Tell em they can stick that notification where the sun don’t shine because it doesn’t bother me in the least. Just don’t do anything stupid like drive.
This is only going to affect those rich kids who are going to school on mommy and daddy’s dime. The rest of the students who study on scholarships, student loans or part time jobs are not going to care.
We wouldn’t even have these problems if the driking age was 18 OR there wasn’t one. Countries that have lower or no drinking age laws don’t have nearly as many problems with alcoholism as we do in the United States.
Anyway, it’s not that big of a deal. Anyone who has been to college knows how easy it is to hide alcohol in your dorm room. When they do “inspections” they can’t open anything or touch things or move stuff around. Hide it in your fridge and they will never find it. Anyway, I doubt that most parents would even care. Mine would probably just tell me to hide it better next time.
whaaat ! as if the parents would care ?
Absolutly I do! Underaged drinking is against the law, case closed!
Yup. Live in Canada if you want to drink “underaged”, it’s not anyone else’s problem that you want to break the law where YOU live.
No. It’s a screwy system, really. You can vote for elected officials, smoke, get married, and even be sent to Iraq or Afghanistan and be potentially blown up by a road bomb at 18, but you can’t have a beer?
If the school catches you doing something against school rules on school property, if you are over 18, they should take it up with you and you alone, not with your parents. People who are 18 are expected to act like adults, so calling Mommy and Daddy as soon as an adult breaks the rules is basically sending the message that they aren’t really grown up yet and therefore do not have to act as if they are.
the parents have rights to privileged information about the students if and ONLY if they provide all of the funds for that student to attend school there, and request that information as a requisite for paying that tuition. If an 18 year old adult takes it upon himself to pay for his own schooling without the aid of his parents, then the parents have no right or claim to any information pertaining to that student.
No. They’re already adult by law. If they have the drinks before they’re of age thats on their shoulders, not their parents.
Yes. I’m 100% against underage drinking at college – and I’m even an underage college student. I say tell their parents. Some parents won’t care, some won’t see the problem, but some parents will care, and if that gets those kids in even more trouble then yes, I say do it.
No, when you get pulled over or arrested, nothing is told to the parents because if the person is 18, they are an adult, and have to handle the burdens on their own.
With that being said, If the student is going to be fined for having the beer, the only notification should be for the person who is going to be paying for that fine.
Most states in the nation adopted a minimum drinking age of 21 soon after federal passage of the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984, which required states to maintain a minimum drinking age of 21. Under the Federal Aid Highway Act, States were required to enforce the minimum drinking age of 18 in order to avoid a 10% reduction in federal highway funds. The original intention of the law was to reduce the incidents of alcohol-related accidents among people under 21. But since passage of this legislation, and the raising of the drinking age in many states, the percentage of people who drink between the ages of 18 to 20 has skyrocketed. Many say the prohibitions have actually encouraged secretive binge drinking, more dangerous behavior, and less educational programming targeting this age group. Respected law enforcement officials and university presidents have recently called for changes in the federal law to permit states to lower the drinking age.
At age 18, people are legal adults. As much as their parents may think otherwise, they are no longer children. They have the right to vote and help choose the President of the United States. They can go to war to defend our country, and they can legally purchase guns and cigarettes. It is absolutely absurd that they cannot have a beer or glass of wine without fear of possible arrest and prosecution.
It’s time for the nation to repeal these Prohibition-era laws and adopt a more intelligent, progressive, and educational approach to drinking among younger adults. These laws simply don’t work, they aren’t enforceable any longer, and if anything they are counterproductive. Literally millions of responsible young adults are already consuming alcohol and that’s not going to change. What we need to do is stop wasting the taxpayers money chasing, charging and prosecuting responsible young adults who want to have a beer, and start putting the money where it ought to be, in promoting smart education about responsible drinking, and in pursuing far more serious criminals, including those at all ages who drive under the influence of alcohol and drugs.
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Eric Paine
President & Founder
Drink At 18
http://drinkat18.com/