<p>We just toured a school and were told that during the first month of school, freshmen had to be back in their rooms at 11:30pm on weeknights. The R.A.s
take attendance. I thought this was a great idea and had never heard of it before.</p>
<p>I have never heard of that in college. Where is this?</p>
<p>Interesting ... sounds like they are stuck in the 60s. </p>
<p>In the 70s I remember voting on parietal hours for the dorm. </p>
<p>Now -- the kids seem to think single sex dorms are wierd. They probably have no clue what parietals are!</p>
<p>Is this a religious school?</p>
<p>If I was an RA, & I had to take "roll" I would expect a lot more than room & board for doing so.
I don't think its a good idea to make the RA's into the wardens.</p>
<p>... What school was this?</p>
<p>What's the advantages of making sure students are in their rooms by 11:30? Shouldn't first week be about spending time with new dorm-mates; exploring campus, the surrounding town or city, and late night coffee shops; staying up all hours sharing stories, getting to know each other, playing Apples-to-Apples or Guitar Hero; or whatever else? This rule would force students into their rooms well before they'd normally go to sleep. Lucky students may have a great time spending those hours fooling around with their roommate, but for most students I imagine this rule drives them to call the HS bf, go on AIM to talk to high school friends, spend time on Facebook trying to get to know more about students they've met during the day, or watch TV. I think first week is important for allowing students to get to know each other and be immersed in college life; instead, I see this rule limiting the ability for students to bond and encouraging them to hang on to their high school lives (by virtue of lots of free time) instead of transitioning to college.</p>
<p>I'd also like to note that though many homes have curfews for high school students before they leave for college, often midnight or thereabouts, I can't think of any family--in real life or on CC--who enforces a "bedtime," which this essentially is.</p>
<p>I'm with cnp. Sounds like the OP was time travelling back to my day. We had curfews in my first year only I think. We had parietal hours all the way through.</p>
<p>I don't see anything about this that is a good idea. Why is it good to be back in your room by 11:30? Doesn't mean the kid is sleeping or whatever some higher authority thinks they should be doing at 11:30. If it is intended to be a safety thing, wouldn't it be wiser to educate the kids on street smarts? Bad things happen at all times of day and night.</p>
<p>Just my $.02.</p>
<p>Hmmmm ... was it Bob Jones?</p>
<p>I think that's absolutely silly. I would not encourage my child to attend a school that would treat her as a child. </p>
<p>D's school does have rules that limit opposite sexes in dorm rooms during certain hours, but there has never been a problem when D & guy friends are watching a movie together or chatting. I think the idea is to keep from having sleepovers that might be very uncomfortable for the roommate. It protects students from being kicked out while roommate consummates her date or from having to actually be in the next bed while the roommate is having a good time.</p>
<p>I think its creepy. While I think I might like it for my D being away from home for the first time, that's my personal hang up, not hers or the schools. </p>
<p>If someone is old enough to move away from home and be in college, to have been responsible and mature enough to have gotten that far already, it seems absurd to now monitor them like children.</p>
<p>Thats absolutely terrible. College is about independence and living life on your own. The whole point is that you need to learn to make smart decisions for yourself, not have them made for you. I am assuming this is from some sort of religious college where backwards thinking is the norm. Thats a pathetic rule.</p>
<p>I'd support firm enforcement of "quiet time" so kids who have to wake up for morning practices or classes can have their fair share of sleep. "Curfew" sounds a bit too strict.</p>
<p>As people have pointed out, this seems limiting socially. But also, what about academics? Some students work better in libraries or study rooms. Some people don’t even like the light/sound coming from a computer when they’re trying to sleep, so their roommates chose (or are forced) to work somewhere else, some people don’t have printers or even computers in their rooms, some people like larger study groups, etc. And, given what I’ve seen and experienced at college, esp. freshmen year, if whoever came up with this rule thinks that every student is going to be done working by 11:30, they are very naive. Even within the first month of school, many students, even relatively non-slacker ones, encounter their first big paper/test/day when they have tons of reading and have to stay up later than 11:30 working — and there are the students who routinely work until midnight or one because that’s when they go to sleep anyway.</p>
<p>Oh, I thought the post said that this rule was only for the first week--I didn't realize we were talking a month! I second all of the academic concerns.</p>
<p>I forgot to mention that I'm a parent and from my perspective, I do see a benefit. My son, I'm sure, would disagree. The school is Gannon Univ. and it is a Catholic school. Remember, this is only for one month and only on weeknights so I thought it might instill some type of routine. Weskid had a good point about not being able to study with everyone back in the dorm. Our tour guide said he thought it was good because it forces kids to interact with their roommate and then after attendance, they usually interact with other kids on their floor. R.A.s do get an extra benefit. Besides free room and board, the first year they get 3 tuition credits free, 6 the second year, and 9 the third year they serve as an R.A.</p>
<p>Why do you suppose they have to give more credits free each suceeding year?</p>
<p>hmmm... does RA also put a piece of tape on the door to make sure no one leaves the room later on? Sounds kind of like the middle school orchestra trip...</p>
<p>I disagree with doing this, but then my Ds never had a curfew in high school. :) I've also never heard of RAs getting academic credit either. Very strange. And three years as an RA? Most colleges that I'm familiar with won't allow you to be an RA til junior year anyway.</p>
<p>As a freshman, I've got to say that some of the highlights of my first month definetly occured after 11:30. The first month is a fabulous time when you can say hi and start talking to just about anyone, even if you don't know them. Our school even scheduled social events for freshmen that lasted till 2 in the morning.</p>
<p>So my D wouldn't be able to sit in a new friends room and chill, do homework, etc? egad, my 15 yo had more freedom</p>
<p>My D had soccer games at 10-11 on Wednesday nights, and it was a Catholic College</p>
<p>So they want the kids to socialize before 1130 THEN do their homework, opposite of what my D and her friends do...</p>