Should Kansas consider a policy allowing university officials to notify parents about certain student behavior?
What would parents of state university students in Kansas think of this plan? The University of Missouri Board of Curators is expected to consider at its meeting today a policy allowing university officials to notify parents when their underage children get in trouble with alcohol or drugs. Similar policies apparently have been implemented at dozens of colleges around the country, and MU's board is looking at whether such a move would be beneficial for its four campuses in Kansas City, Columbia, Rolla and St. Louis.
The policy would let administrators tell parents when their children are caught breaking drug or alcohol rules on campus two or more times or on the first offense if there is a safety issue or the student's housing or student status is affected. The policy would not apply to off-campus situations and would not apply to students who are married, financially independent or whose parents have chosen not to be notified.
Predictably, students are opposed to the plan. They argue that, although they are financially dependent on their parents, they should be treated as adults. They also argue that, because the policy only applies to on-campus incidents, it won't be a meaningful deterrent to drug use or underage drinking.
Administrators, on the other hand, hope the policy would act as a deterrent to drug and alcohol abuse by students living in on-campus dormitories or apartments. Those students might think twice before breaking rules that would result in their parents being notified, and, if parents are notified, there may be a greater chance the students will get help for substance abuse problems.
MU officials estimated that, had such a policy been in place last year, parents of about 100 of the university system's 20,000 students under 21 would have been contacted. At Southwest Missouri State University, which has such a policy, the number of drug and alcohol violations dropped from 259 in fall 1998 to 189 last fall.
What would Kansas University students and parents think of this policy? Most students probably would be against it. Instituting such a policy here probably also would have the effect of increasing the trend of students choosing to live in off-campus housing.
What about parents? It hasn't been that many years ago that parents expected universities to exercise such parental-style oversight as closing hours and monitoring class attendance. Times have changed, and most parents now accept the fact that their day-to-day supervision of their children's lives pretty much ends when they head to college.
The limited policy being considered by MU might move behavior problems off campus but it probably wouldn't have a significant impact on the overall behavior of students. Whether or not it involves parental notification, however, students should be held accountable through legal channels, if necessary for actions that damage university property or endanger other people.
College is a time of new experiences and often of testing limits. The vast majority of Kansas University students seem capable of managing their own lives and class responsibilities. Those who aren't equal to the task probably won't be able to hide that fact from their parents for long with or without a notification policy.
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