Stop Babysitting College Students: Article Analysis

College students can and should enjoy alcohol without the stigma associated with it. The alternative option would be for colleges to focus on teaching students proper drinking manners, as opposed to banning alcohol outright. The problem is not alcohol on campus but people who are not mature enough to handle it. So rather than attempt in vain to hide the bottle, colleges need to educate their students on proper drinking. First example, Colleges may host parties of their own where students can freely drink and be under the close supervision of the college administrators. Second solution would be to have an open relationship with the local bars and pubs, get them involved in helping out around the school, making them a part of the college culture.
The local bartenders will know the students and be able to help with college in cracking down on underage drinking or preventing any one too intoxicated to drive. In addition this will give the idea to students that drinking is common place and not something to hide or be ashamed off. Thus with a more open feeling towards alcohol students are less likely to binge if they could just go to the bar freely with friends without having to worry about hiding it from the school. As Froma Harrop states in her article “Stop Babysitting College Students”, “Careful use of alcohol relaxes and warms the drinker with a sense of well-being. Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt saved Western civilization without ever missing a cocktail hour” (41). College is a stressful time and students deserve a time and place to settle down and relax with friends. College students should not be frisked and treated as simpletons for wanting to share a mug with
One cannot continue to coddle them any longer, college is the time and place to begin to show how one may act in the adult world. They must learn to deal with the consequences of their actions. Never blame the effect for the cause is the culprit. Take for example, Henry Wechsler, author of “Binge Drinking Must Be Stopped” argues for the banning of alcohol on campus grounds with this statement. “The root of the problem is seldom touched. The focus is on the students, and not on the suppliers and marketers of the alcohol” (31). This argument is invalid, the root of the problem is the students not the business. They are the ones who buy the alcohol and give business to the local bars, pubs and breweries. That would be the same as blaming the tobacco company for teen smoking. Instead colleges should implement harsher plenaties for students caught breaking the rules. That is to expel any students who are caught driving under the influence or buying drinks for anyone under the legal age who are currently enrolled in college. There must be consequences for these actions, this way students are also less likely to binge drink if it means getting kicked out of their school and potentially ruining their career. This in turn will promote more students to drink on campus as opposed to going out to parties and which could result in accidents or lives