2008 Woodie Awards
To cut drinking, look to schools - and beyond
By: GUEST COLUMNIST
Issue date: 4/15/08 Section: Forum
This letter is in response to Greg Chick's column about student drinking ["Univ. needs to curb dangerous drinking," April 14]. While I agree that the University administration should be concerned, so should every other social institution and individual in this country.
Mr. Chick has echoed what has become the "norm" for many people: Blaming someone else for their own bad behavior.
All institutions, schools in particular, are merely composed of the people that society brings to them. Yet, people expect these institutions to magically erase whatever individual and societal flaws they inherit from their members - without, I might add, the authority and proper resources to do so.
Take secondary schools, for example. Students who misbehave there often get away with it for years.
Why? Because teachers do not have any authority to correct such misbehavior without facing harassment or abuse charges. (Take the recent case of the student suing his teacher for ear damage when the teacher tried to wake him during class.) Blaming the student or the parents would be politically incorrect and might harm public relations.
Why don't we just blame all schools, both secondary and higher education, for all of society's woes? That would be much easier than individuals taking responsibility for their own actions.
Does Mr. Chick blame schools for the current crime rate in the U.S.? How about the poor in the world who do not have enough to eat?
I'm not saying that schools have no blame, but they have no more than anyone else.
In fact, I might even blame our business schools for some of the unethical behavior found in, for instance, the former Enron executives. Schools did respond to this by adding more courses in ethics.
And, getting back to his point about the University, I guess he hasn't heard about Alcohol Edu. Ask any freshman about this.
It's just sad that a college would have to create such courses in the first place.
Colleges should be filled with people who yearn to learn and can behave responsibly. Anyone who attends college for any other reason should think twice about their choice and not blame the institution for whatever trouble they get into.
- Kris Rosendale
Instructor, Mathematics
Mr. Chick has echoed what has become the "norm" for many people: Blaming someone else for their own bad behavior.
All institutions, schools in particular, are merely composed of the people that society brings to them. Yet, people expect these institutions to magically erase whatever individual and societal flaws they inherit from their members - without, I might add, the authority and proper resources to do so.
Take secondary schools, for example. Students who misbehave there often get away with it for years.
Why? Because teachers do not have any authority to correct such misbehavior without facing harassment or abuse charges. (Take the recent case of the student suing his teacher for ear damage when the teacher tried to wake him during class.) Blaming the student or the parents would be politically incorrect and might harm public relations.
Why don't we just blame all schools, both secondary and higher education, for all of society's woes? That would be much easier than individuals taking responsibility for their own actions.
Does Mr. Chick blame schools for the current crime rate in the U.S.? How about the poor in the world who do not have enough to eat?
I'm not saying that schools have no blame, but they have no more than anyone else.
In fact, I might even blame our business schools for some of the unethical behavior found in, for instance, the former Enron executives. Schools did respond to this by adding more courses in ethics.
And, getting back to his point about the University, I guess he hasn't heard about Alcohol Edu. Ask any freshman about this.
It's just sad that a college would have to create such courses in the first place.
Colleges should be filled with people who yearn to learn and can behave responsibly. Anyone who attends college for any other reason should think twice about their choice and not blame the institution for whatever trouble they get into.
- Kris Rosendale
Instructor, Mathematics
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