<p>My girlfriend and I have discussed substance-free housing because she dislikes being around alcohol due to a family history of alcoholism and alcohol-related abuse. </p>
<p>I’m not a parent so I’ll shut up now, but it’s worth a thought that completely normal people can want to avoid substances for personal reasons.</p>
<p>My D1 goes to a school where all freshman dorms are supposed to be “substance free”. Not always the case, as we all know. For this coming year (her sophomore year) she is going to live on a substance free floor. She said after her observances last year, she wanted to feel this year that she could always go to a party, but she didn’t want to have to live in one. Makes sense to me. Atheist, not opposed to being at a party, but not a partier. Hopefully, she will love it!</p>
<p>S1 liked his substance free for this reason.
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<p>
</p>
<p>Multiple reasons for it being bad.</p>
<ol>
<li>Religion is a man made. So unless the student have done extended studies of the religion it only means that the person, who is extreemly religious, is brain washed and compromise the logical/analytical abilities when it comes to religion.</li>
<li>Person having extreem view of anything should be avoided.</li>
</ol>
<p><em>stepping away from the thread</em></p>
<p>POIH - oh my…</p>
<h1>25 & #26: What’s the problem? Can’t I answer a question?</h1>
<p>I think they are just following your own advice. See #2 above.</p>
<p>IMO- POIH is not going to change their view on religion- so not wasting my time addressing his ?</p>
<p>I think it really depends on the school & also the year. ( the make-up of sub free(
It’s possible that at a large school with many choices to choose from for living arrangements, that some students who choose subfree may conciously be choosing to isolate themselves from the bulk of the school community, not merely choosing a living environment that will be free of mind/behavior altering substances including tobacco.</p>
<p>These students may prefer to remain separate for many reasons & using subfree as a mechanism to do so- could easily be substituted by something else.</p>
<p>So far I haven’t seen housing for " students with few social skills who feel they are superior/inferior to others & would be happiest not having to actually talk to anyone at their university", since there is not - perhaps they feel subfree is the best place to meet like minded souls.</p>
<p>However- my experience has been that at many schools, those students do not make up the bulk of sub free & are outnumbered by the types of students I have mentioned already.</p>
<p>woody: preaching by example… true … at least makes the point much clear. Isn’t it?</p>
<p>ok stupid question… arent most dorms supposed to be substance free even if not designated as such… ie no liquor, drugs or smoking allowed in any dorms we looked at for freshman. so what is the specific difference?</p>
<p>At least at Wash U, they have what’s called the “open door” policy, which basically says you can drink in your room if you have the door open. There are other stipulations, but thats the gist. No smoking, hard alcohol, or other drugs are allowed anywhere, though there is some tolerance for drinking. Sub free doesn’t have this tolerance, with much stiffer penalties for violations of the substance agreement.</p>
<p>^^^hmmm that’s interesting…is that any age or only over legal age? assume you are talking about just beer as you said no hard alcohol</p>
<p>I believe its any age. The assumption is that some underage students are going to drink anyway, so its better that they are open about it, rather than drink behind closed doors, where there is a greater risk of overconsumption, plus a fear of calling for help if there is an issue. </p>
<p>As for living on sub free, there was definitely a mix of people who really wanted to be there, people who were forced to be there by their parents, and everyone in between. While it didn’t define the floor, there could be conflict. One person threw a party, which ended by a particularly studious resident screaming how unacceptable it was…yikes…</p>
<p>Apart from that one incident, though, sub free was basically a quieter version of any other floor, though our floor also had the giant tv. I would recommend it.</p>
<p>The difference at sub free is that the kids who choose it WANT it to be sub free, so it actually is, relatively speaking.</p>
<p>vonlost - agree with you for the most part, except #5 shows an exception to your observation. I also believe that there are parents who will push this option on their kid… you know, the helicopter kind that allow websites such as CC to prosper. ;)</p>
<p>Wow, #5 is great, thanks!</p>
<p>“He never had high damage fees, really dirty bathrooms, broken items during drunken parties, etc. He could always go to a party, but didn’t have a noisy party going on all night in his dorm.” - Yup. Substance free dorms don’t have vomit in the bathroom or loud parties at 3:30 am on wednesday . . . and a lot less vandalism (and higher gpas).</p>
<p>Back in the old days, I lived in the all-female dorm at IU because although I wanted to party, I knew it would be less messy than the coed dorms. I did not have to walk a gauntlet of vomit every Sunday, and it didn’t keep me from partying. To me the most extreme floors were the quiet floors, which were (in my time) filled with international students from the music school). When I went to visit my friends it felt like a library.</p>
<p>My son felt it kept him off ADD meds, being able to study in his room and not have it “crazy” as with other floors. With many colleges, sub-free is just a floor or wing, not a building, I feel if a students wants it, it doesn’t have to be every year, but if you get in a “party building” and you aren’t that type, you might be miserable.
Most students don’t spend all day in their rooms and my daughter’s friends all came from in and outside of their dorm.
My niece and cousins daughter told them many stories from putting up with drunk roommates and their friends and they never regretted having a room that was free from some of the idiocy you see with drunk students. Actually, many loved their room and hung out there because it was relatively clean and quiet, except for music, and their bathrooms even I would use! (that I thought I’d never say) : )
Being a non-drinker or light drinker doesn’t mean you aren’t social, I haven’t in years and rarely did as a young adult and it never cramped my social life and I’m sure others find that as well.</p>