Campus Drinking and Parent Notification Policies

Campuses are cracking down on alcohol use and abuse. But this time some administrators are following a new trend: one that involves mom and dad.

Alcohol abuse and binge drinking are common issues on college campus (Boulard, 2005). But just how far – and how much – of a problem alcohol abuse is seemed to be somewhat ill-defined since incident rates ranged from study to study. The Federal Task Force of the National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism – a group consisting of alcohol researchers, students, and professors – attempted to change that by sharpening the scope of the problem. After an exhaustive three year study the NIAA produced its findings in its final report, “A Call to Action: Changing the Culture of Drinking at U.S. Colleges”.

Among the report’s most shocking findings, the NIAA discovered that approximately 1,400 (ages 18-24) students die each year in alcohol related accidents and more than 70,000 students are victims of alcohol related sexual abuse and assault. The report also discovered that while 400,000 students (ages 18-24) have unprotected sex, more than 100,000 students (ages 18-24) were too inebriated to know whether they consented to intercourse or not (“What Parents Need to Know about College Drinking”, 2002).

School administrators have tried to devise effective policies to tackle a problem that is placing an untold body of students in peril. Such policies include (a) individual based approaches, which are more commonly known as social norms interventions, (b) environmental strategies, which tend to focus on restricting flow of alcohol both on and off campus, creating alcohol-free residences and other measures similar to such an effect, and (c) implementing zero tolerance policies (Toomey, & Wagenaar, 2002). Even in spite of the efforts, alcohol abuse and misuse is still the number one problem on college campuses (Freedman, 2007).

This realization has pushed school administrators to turn to another foundation for change, and they’re hopeful that parental notification policies will help reduce the destructive trends.

The policy is not ‘new’ per se. Since 1998, when the Higher Education Amendments was ratified into law, institutions could notify parents if a student under the legal age limit commits a disciplinary violation involving either alcohol or a controlled substance (Zweig & Thompson, 2001). Further clarification of this stipulation was provided by the U.S. Department of Education in 2000 when the department provided broad discretion to universities about when it can notify parents (Zweig & Thompson, 2001). The Department also noted that universities may notify parents without conducting a hearing or formal disciplinary proceeding (Zweig & Thompson, 2001).

The policy is well-intentioned. No doubt. But it raises significant questions that school administrators will need to address if they want to pursue implementing it. When, for example, should parents be notified? Should a 19 year old be on the verge of expulsion for engaging in a late-night, boisterous party? Should notification be warranted for first violations or for repeated violations?

Undoubtedly, drinking on college campus is a problem. But drinking is also a social activity, an acceptable, even welcomed activity on nearly every corner of the world. Drinking is also seen as a social rite of passage and a symbol of independence (Boyd, Howard, & Zucker, 1995). How should universities successfully tackle this issue in light of these facts?

Regardless of the questions that linger, parental notification has proved to be effective. Researchers at Bowling Green State University discovered that parents were particularly supportive of campuses employing parental notification policies and, more significantly, it did reduce alcohol-related incidents (Zweig & Thompson, 2001). Hopefully, a broad outline or approach can be adopted by campuses to continue reducing alcohol-related incidents and create a safer, healthier environment for students.

References

Baer, J. (2002). Student factors: Understanding individual variation in college drinking. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 63(2), 40-46.

Boulard, G. (2005, April). Drinking too much, too young: Trying to find an answer to the persistent habit of binge drinking among young people vexes the nation’s policymakers. State Legislatures, 31(4), 12-14.

Boyd, G.M., Howard, J., & Zucker, R.A. (1995). Alcohol problems among adolescents: Current directions in prevention research. Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Freedman, S.G. (2007, September 12). Calling the folks about campus drinking. New York Times. pg. B6

Toomey, T.L. & Wagenaar, A.C. (2002). Environmental policies to reduce college drinking: Options and research findings. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 63(2), 193+.

What parents need to know about college drinking. (2002).

    http://www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov/media/FINALParents.pdf

Zweig, K.L. & Thompson, J. (2001). Parental Notification

    http://www.higheredcenter.org/pubs/prev-updates/notification.html