College students are going to drink alcohol; it’s
inevitable. Either by smuggling alcohol into dorms with water bottles, or
searching for an off campus party, students will find ways to get drunk while
living on a dry campus. Forbidding alcohol on campus is an attempt by college
administration to keep students safe, but that does not always work out. It’s
no secret that “thirsty Thursdays” tend to be a popular drinking night for students,
and weekends are usually free reign for students to let loose get wasted. Many
students drive to nearby apartments to drink with friends, and end up driving
back to their resident halls later. Here at Framingham State, we have seen the
dry campus policy backfire in the most deadly way.
In December
2011, FSU lost a student due to a drinking
and driving incident. The young woman was attending a party off campus and
was driven back to campus by her intoxicated friend. The party ended in tragedy
when the car crashed and the young woman was killed. This heartbreaking
incident could have been avoided if FSU allowed alcohol on campus. The student
could have been drinking in her dorm room or a friend’s dorm room, and wouldn’t
have to drive or be driven.
By allowing alcohol on campus, FSU
would greatly diminish the risk of drunk driving. If students could drink on
campus, they wouldn’t have to find campus parties and could drink in the safety
of FSU’s boundaries. Avoid driving, and we avoid the deaths that are caused by
intoxicated drivers. Instead, the school should implement a safe place for
students to drink.
Many campuses have 21+ resident
halls, which would allow students in those dorms to bring in a regulated amount
of alcohol. As an FSU resident who turned 21 last year, I found it unfair that
I could not drink in the place that I lived during the school year. Sometimes,
it would have been nice to unwind after a week of classes with a beer or two.
And since I was of legal age, why not? Because FSU forbids any alcohol. But
when I wanted to head to a bar, I often found myself unable to find a driver
willing to bring me back to campus. Which brings us back to the first issue –
intoxicated driving. Our campus administrators need to think the alcohol policy
through in order to keep out students safe. Let’s look at it this way: if FSU
allowed alcohol on campus, there is a good chance that young woman may still be
alive today.
I disagree. Whether or not alcohol was allowed on campus or not, there's no promises the accident of the FSU student could have been avoided.. no matter what the age limit is. Although I do understand your point, that if students had somewhere to go on campus that they wouldn't have to drive. However, many students are on campus are underage and a majority of upperclassmen are off campus, living in apartments.
ReplyDeleteI think young college students will drink to excess whether in their dorm rooms or at off-campus locations. Colleges do not need to be regulating alcohol in dorms where most students are under the legal drinking age. The student killed in the DUI accident was underage.
ReplyDeleteI am contemplating on if I agree or not. Yes, being able to have alcohol on campus would (possibly) reduce the amount of drunk drivers. However, you have to consider that most students are "pre-gaming" before these parties start. My opinion is if your 21 drink and DONT drive, if your not 21 don't drink AND drive. Students should follow campus rules as directed and until change, adapt. Also, Be able to know your limit. Point Blank.
ReplyDelete(Just to say, you should not say a possiblility on someones death, "Let’s look at it this way: if FSU allowed alcohol on campus, there is a good chance that young woman may still be alive today." I see your point, but reguardless it was a off campus party. Yes, if the party were to be on campus that would have been a different story, but the facts can not be changed. Stating "If students could drink on campus, they wouldn’t have to find campus parties and could drink in the safety.." does not promise that there will not be parties off campus.) (No disrespect to family or friends of the young girl.)
I agree with the comments that have been said so far. I do think it would be nice if students over the age of 21 had a place to go and have a drink but at the same time that will not stop the drunk driving or the off campus parties with alcohol. Everyone is incharge of their own life and gets to make their own decisions, whether they make the right choice is up to them and they will need to live with their own choices. So if they want to drink that is their choice and hopefully nothing bad will come from that choice but you can't stop someone from living their life the way they want to live it.
ReplyDeleteIf you don't like living on a dry campus, lobby to change the legal drinking age.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe that the drinking age is the problem. There are many students on campus who are of legal drinking age. I am a commuter this year, but I turned 21 in January of '11 and spent a year and a half in the dorms without being able to drink unless I went off campus. Yes, the young woman who was killed was underage, but my point is that if there alcohol on campus, there will be much less drinking and driving. Obviously, we cannot eliminate the drunk driving deaths completely, but there is a chance that we can diminish it if students could drink on campus.
ReplyDeleteHere is why I think the drinking age is the problem: if there is alcohol on campus, then there will be much *more* underage drinking.
ReplyDeleteThe FSU administration will get into trouble if they enact policies which increase illegal behavior. They will be much more likely to allow alcohol on campus if they only have to police students under the age of 18.