STUDENTS MUST TAKE PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY

What Do You Think About AU's New Drug Policy?

AU's new drug policy, which notifies parents of students for anything from
a minor infraction to major abuse of illegal drugs, is a flawed policy. The
administration appears to recognize the maturity level of its students in
some areas of campus life -University bureaucrats aren't calling parents
when their son or daughter is doing poorly in a class or doesn't attend
enough classes. But such is not the case when it comes to drug or alcohol use.

The first flaw with the new policy (as well as the old policy) is obvious:
The policy of parental notification treats adults as children, thereby
infantilizing perfectly capable college students. We, as sovereign
individuals, own our own bodies and make conscious choices regarding our
actions. Just like any other adult, it is inappropriate for the legal or
disciplinary situations of AU students to be shared with anyone other than
the appropriate authorities involved in specific case instances. For those
who disagree, consider AU staff and faculty, also presumably legal adults:
Is the parental notification policy the same for administration, faculty,
staff, and students? No. Because students, in this instance, are viewed as
inferiors despite the fact that the majority of students have the same
adult legal status as others present on the AU campus.

Seeing that some AU students are financially independent, it's ridiculous
that the University would stoop so low as to consult parental units about
matters that may not even apply to the parents of any given individual. Not
everyone relies on their parents for support at the University level. How
dare our arrogant administration take issues of a personal nature to those
who not only have no say in some of our lives, but also people who some of
us don't even speak to. I have several acquaintances that don't even talk
to their parents, let alone receive financial support from them.

For those students who are close to their parents, the policy undermines
parental authority. Parents are constantly told to establish open, honest,
and trusting relationships with their children. This sensible goal is
undermined by the administrative bureaucracy substituting its judgment for
that of its students and their parents.

Personal responsibility should be fostered at a university setting, not
discouraged. College is a stepping stone between the shelter of home life
and the real world. It's a relatively protected environment in which
students learn how to take care of themselves and in which students are
supposed to develop a sense of personal responsibility. Are 18-year-old
adults able to take responsibility for their own acts and straighten out
their own mistakes? Or should the University be the students' baby-sitter?
Our administration is obligated to be explicit about how it views its
students and its relationship with them; It doesn't trust us, nor does it
believe we're capable of making our own decisions properly. What an
abomination!

Personal privacy and health matters are also of grave importance to the
University's flawed, statist parental notification policy. AU's current
policy is clearly a model of scrutiny and invasion of personal privacy. By
notifying parents upon violation, the policy encourages students who engage
in risky behaviors to take extreme steps to avoid getting caught. Our
University's policies should reflect those of an open society that values
individual privacy in matters of health and rule infractions. Instead, the
parental notification policy does the opposite.

AU is a private institution; No federal mandates regarding parental
notification apply unless similar policies are adopted by AU governing
bodies. Students are considered by the courts to be adults and there is no
reason why they should be treated any differently by the University. Who
knows what's next if the current trend continues? Parent-professor
conferences? Meetings with President Ladner and the 'rents over fall break?
Not likely. So why can't the administration simply recognize individual
sovereignty on an issue that involves both personal privacy and health?

Students attend AU with the understanding (and the contractual agreement)
that they have the power and prerogative to govern themselves. At the
university level, students live under policies of their own creation,
whether through direct referendum or by representation on governing bodies.
To take the adjudication of drug or alcohol violations out of students'
hands is a step in the wrong direction because it removes self-governance,
an aspect of the University system that sets it apart from other
institutions in the country.

Parental notification, while a nice idea for those attempting to overcome
the problem of college drinking in a single bound, inappropriately widens
the University's jurisdiction and thereby breaches students' rights by
revealing aspects of their behavior that only they should have the right to
disclose. The parental notification policy is reminiscent of the measures
taken to discipline pre-school students. This kind of discipline should be
seen as beneath us in a University setting. The University administration
as well as all AU students who value personal responsibility,
self-governance, privacy, and health matters should be ashamed that we have
allowed ourselves to sink to this level. To return to how university
students were treated before the late '60s would be a giant step backward
for students, professors, and administrators alike.

Do you oppose the University's childish parental notification policy? If
so, join our campaign by e-mailing YouthRights@aol.com and expressing your
interest. Together, the student body can hopefully bring about a more
mature policy for our campus community.