Progress reports, parent-teacher conferences and detention slips are all elements of years past — or so we thought. It turns out that University of Wisconsin-Madison is trying to bring the parents back into the school with a new parental notification policy announced last week. Students who thought that upon arriving in Madison they were "free" from their parents are shocked at this policy change. But after a reported 14 trips to detoxification so far this semester, I say it is about time we do something.
Chancellor John Wiley's policy announcement came not only after these trips to city hospitals but also after UW-Madison was ranked the No. 1 party school in the country. Despite claims by the administration that this policy was in the works before the rankings were published, no one disputes that this policy is an effort to clean up the binge-drinking problem on campus.
A press release by the University of Wisconsin explains the policy: "Under the new policy, staff members from University Housing and the Offices of the Dean of Students will contact and notify parents or guardians of students who are under 21 and are involved in a range of incidents … " Such incidents include trips to detoxification, as well as behavior that puts the student's own or other lives in danger.
Some may wonder how it is legal for Wiley to endorse a policy like this for students under the age of 21. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a Federal law that protects students' records from being released to parents without signed permission from the student. This law was amended seven years ago, however, to be more flexible in certain life-threatening situations. It is this amendment that allows Wiley to do what he has so wisely chosen to do in hopes of ensuring a safer campus and a better reputation for the university.
Students who are dumbfounded by this recent announcement must understand the nuances of the policy. It has always been true that university authorities would notify parents if their children were contemplating suicide or just generally thought to be mentally unstable. This aspect of the policy is hard to argue against. The new policy, in effect, extends the policy to include binge-drinking as life-threatening, and in fact suicidal. People do die from drinking too much too fast. An argument can and should be made that parents have a right to know about these situations.
In addition to highlighting the danger of binge-drinking and the importance of parental notification in "extreme cases," another detail of the policy is usually overlooked by students who grumble about it. Before the university will even look up your parents' contact number, they will give you, the student, the chance to call and tell them yourself. This provision allows students to maintain some control over parental involvement while, at the same time, making sure that parents will, in fact, be kept informed about possibly dangerous behavior.
It is understandable why Wiley has felt the need to enact this policy. As the chancellor of the university he is responsible for the health, safety and academic success of the students who attend it. Upholding the reputation of UW may seem superficial to some, but imagine what one tragic drinking death would do to our image. The No. 1 party school ranking would not be so funny.
As suffocating as this new policy may seem to some students who are determined to prove their independence at all costs, it is really only a sensible extension of a policy that already existed. Many of us enjoy a drink or two, but excessive underage drinking will always be a problem on our campus. If the Chancellor's new policy might prevent a single death, we should give it a chance.
Emily Friedman ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in journalism and legal studies.
