Bad Behavior in College: Out of Sight, Out of Mind?

Student Lounge College Life
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<p>It's no secret that many college students--even the best intentioned of them--will ultimately push the social envelope to its limits at some point. Goodness knows I had more than my fair share of lost nights and more than a few moments of poor judgment induced by too much cheer in college, and I didn't drink a drop before arriving on campus.</p>

<p>That being said, people seem content with the boilerplate tour guide assertion that, "alcohol is available. It's open to those who seek it out. There are plenty of other social options for those who don't."</p>

<p>Cliche as this answer to the inevitable alcohol question may be, it's a fairly accurate assessment of the social scene at almost every college in the U.S., and certainly at all of the top ones. Great students at great universities are not immune to the indescretions of youth, nor should that immunity be expected of them. </p>

<p>Every weekend, on every college campus, students make--and hopefully learn from (though realistically, this sometimes isn't the case)--poor decisions. Alcohol poisoning, "date rape," and violence, while not part of a normal Saturday night for most individuals, are nonetheless common weekend occurrances at most traditional colleges.</p>

<p>I don't think that most realistic parents dispute this fact. They, of course, trust that their child will make the right decisions, and more often than not, they more than likely will. </p>

<p>Why, then, when an instance of poor behavior on a college campus hits the media, do people suddenly react as if binge drinking, belligerence, and poor decision making are new scourges on the nation's institutions of higher education?</p>

<p>The Duke lacrosse scandal is a case in point. It has done significant damage, in some quarters, to the reputation of the university, and the case can be made that applications at Duke are down as a result of the poor press. Bear in mind that this stems from the actions of a tiny group of students who have been convicted of nothing and who now appear nothing more than victims of a young woman's desperation. </p>

<p>Yet the rage still exists. At least one of the accused has been forced to transfer. Duke's image continues to suffer, and its faculty stand by their condemnation of the individuals involved. </p>

<p>Let's make it perfectly clear that even the suggestion of rape is one of the most serious matters that an institution can face, and that suggestion must be taken seriously whenever it is raised.</p>

<p>Still, it boils down to the fact it is absolutely no secret that incidents such as this and others occur on college campuses on a regular basis, yet 99.9% of them never leave the rooms in which they occur. I like to think that this is not a new or surprising development for most of us. Six or seven guys get together in a house for a birthday party, have a few (too many) drinks, and order a stripper, and an entire university suffers dearly for it.</p>

<p>In my mind, this begs the question: what do people think is really happening on college campuses today? Are people really that surprised that drinking and womanization are commonplace? Is the shock and indignation genuine, or is it simply a reaction that, when the issue comes to the fore, we believe that we <em>should</em> display, and therefore do?</p>

<p>My vote is with the latter. How about you?</p>

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<p>i think alot of it is sensationalism. media's out to make money, it's a for-profit industry now. is it going to keep people watching if they say, "people drink at college, big deal" and end the segment, no. They take an incident, and drag it out to get the best ratings and reactions, that's just the way it is.</p>

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<p>Yea, taking a sampling of the most extreme events is no way indicative of widespread indiscretions.</p>

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<p>I just find it interesting that, for every one of these extreme events that draws widespread attention, there are hundreds that go unreported by the media.</p>

<p>I can tell you several horror stories that occurred over the years at my alma mater that resulted in everything from expulsion to student death and would easily have raised strong reactions from society if they had been highly publicized, yet because there was no publicity, nobody is rising up in anger against my school or any other that has been lucky and savvy enough to keep its dirty laundry out of the spotlight. </p>

<p>It's like a tacit understanding of what the college lifestyle really is, yet only when forced to look at it does it suddenly become a travesty. </p>

<p>I guess my argument is that this outcry against specific schools that are unlucky enough to get "caught" is a farce, because very few people are unaware of what occurs every weekend on most college campuses. </p>

<p>Cut 'em some slack, I guess, is my point.</p>

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<p>I'm well aware, alot of my friends go to college near my house so I visit their parties sometimes. I've found that when people put themselves in the company of total strangers, they are much more likely to be taken advantage of. There isn't really a sober parrellel because people don't put themselves into such foreign crowds. Honest, well meaning people ussually stay that way no matter what influence they're under. It's said that intoxication brings out the animal, the unrestricted person; someone who handles themselves admirably while enjoying the physical effects of a drug is likely to exhibit similar behavior when they're sober.</p>

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<p>Sensationalism is part of it. The Duke story certainly had a number of elements going for it to make national news - Issues of race and gender, a school/NCAA sponsored athletic team, a prestigious university with a reputation of high character in more high profile sports, etc.</p>

<p>As a recent alumnus of a fraternity, I can attest to the fact that because of certain voluntary associations, the actions of one group will be ignored, while identical decisions will be front page news. Fraternities are just one example. Even on the pages of this website, I've had to defend my fraternity membership as worthwhile because the assumption is always that ONLY the greek system is responsible for negative effects of alcohol. A thousand students could have been busted for having alcohol in their dorm rooms, but the minute a fraternity house is found with alcohol in their house, it makes the paper, and there is threat of closing down the chapter. I could go on, but I think it's obvious and goes along with the thoughts of the original poster.</p>

<p>Is there a real reason why this gets such coverage? I think a lot of it has to do with American Society's love/hate relationship with alcohol. There's no doubt that alcohol has an esteemed place in the lives of many people - champagne toasts are certainly a key element in the celebrations of life's greatest moments - and yet at the same time we have organizations like MADD whose past advertising campaigns make alcohol use equivalent to heroin use, rape, suicide or assault.</p>