Tamyra Hamilton
Susan LaPlant
ENGL 1102 K
2 April 2015
Be Good or Be Good At It

In the article “Parents Notification Policies for Underage Drinking Evolve” by Jenna Johnson she discusses the pros and cons of informing a parent about their child’s alcohol-related actions that they condone at universities. Johnson seems to be on the fence throughout the whole article on whether she agrees or disagree with informing parents on every little detail in their child’s life pertaining to consuming or even just being around alcohol. In the article, Johnson quotes the vice president of student affairs at Virginia Tech, Edward Spencer, when he states “[s]tudents are more concerned about their parents being notified than they are of the legal consequences,” which is true because parents are more terrifying than any form of law enforcement (qtd. in Johnson). Regardless of how minor a situation is parents should be notified if their child is in any situation pertaining to alcohol. It is better for parents to know and be upset for a little while with their child than it is for the parents to not know and possibly not even have a child to be upset with because their child could be taken away from them. It is always best to expect the unexpected in any case regardless of the teenager trying to gain independence. The director of student conduct at the University of Maryland, John Zacker, said it best when he stated that “[t]here is no magical line here between May of their senior year of high school and college. When do they become a responsible adult?” because there is no true mark when a teenager is now considered an adult, how do you expect to gain independence and be treated as an adult when you are acting like a irresponsible child (qtd. in Johnson). Students are still considered students when they are in college but they expected to be treated and considered an adult but you cannot be considered an adult when you are not acting as one. Independence is earned and not given so if a teenager really wants to have independence then they should start off by being responsible and making logical decisions, which is basically the first step to becoming an independent result. Students at universities would have a lot to say about their parents being informed that their child are in alcohol related situations but in all reality they have to be mindful of the worst that can happen. For instance, a teenager could attend their first college party and while not being aware of how much alcohol they can intake they could possibly get caught being under the influence. The parent should be notified because they need to be aware of what is going on in their child’s life regardless of their age because the student is still their child. Parents never stop worrying regardless of how involved they are in that student’s life because they are their offspring, they are a piece of them and for the university or college to not inform the parents when bad things happen is just inconsiderate of other people’s feelings. The main argument for the students who believe that parents should not be notified when there is a minor case of a student being involved with alcohol situations is that it is just a minor situation and that students should be able to express their independence in college. To rebut that statement, when is it truly considered minor and major? If someone’s child is in college and they are not informed about minor situations, what happens when it is too late to tell a parent of a minor situation because a teenager was involved in a “major” situation that happened to take that teenagers life? Johnson shares a story about a freshman that attended University of Kansas who unfortunately died from a situation related to alcohol usage. Like most parents would be, the parents of the freshman was devastated, not only because their son was no longer alive but because they were not even aware of the fact that he consumed alcohol (Johnson). Parents will always expect and hope for the best from their child, so they are not really oblivious to the fact that their child may drink but that they cannot take their child off of the pedestals they keep them on. If all colleges implemented the idea to inform parents of all alcohol related situations, no matter how big or small, this could potentially reduce the amount of underage drinkers in college. Just imagine all of the effects that can happen from underage and irresponsible drinking. Most teenagers do not think of long term when they are being peer pressured and they just want to fit in so a fun night can turn into a traumatic night in a short amount of time. The amount of negative things that can happen to a person is endless but when that person is under the influence it becomes ten times worse. There is a reason that the drinking age is 21 and that is because the brain is not fully developed and why would a person want to start damaging their liver a couple of years earlier, patience is the key to a happy life, not a drunken one. Students in college would be more mindful of their actions and actually think more adult like if they knew that if they got caught their parents or guardian would be informed. The student then has the choice to not drink at all or they could choose to do it but not get caught. Promoting underage drinking is not the goal but reducing it or helping students grow up should be the goal because maturity is not overrated and it is a key component to growing up in life. Students would think more rationally and logically not only about drinking but about other things if responsibility is forced on them and that is not necessarily a bad thing.