Law turns university into parents

(U-WIRE) Last October, Congress amended the 1974 Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, giving colleges the right to notify parents of a student’s use of drugs or alcohol.

Not surprisingly, Congress bowed to the influence of groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving, which have used the same emotion-filled “Won’t anybody think of the children?” arguments for years.

But critics are right: students today have no sense of adult responsibility, and it shows. They don’t vote, they don’t manage their credit cards well, and they don’t pay their bills on time either.

All of this behavior is exacerbated by the prevailing attitude that college students need to be guarded more closely, not given more rights. This had caused a sickening mentality among students, that no matter the results, mom and dad will always come to the rescue.

This trend in notifying parents will only reinforce the idea that parents will be there to bail their students out when they have a problem. This perception is the real danger of such a law.

There is a diverse set of responsibilities that come with being an adult. When so many students clearly have irresponsible attitudes toward drinking, many students will have immature and irresponsible attitudes toward other aspects of their personal lives.

Of course, parents still want to provide for their children, but students will only continue telling themselves, “Oh my parents will take care of it.” This knee-jerk reaction by Congress will only allow the university to become students’ surrogate parent and ultimately damage their maturation process.