The recent near brawl on the bus home from Senior Pub Night and open container violations in Somerville show naive underage students are not the only ones engaging in dangerous behavior while intoxicated.
These incidents, especially since they were committed by upperclassmen, are inexcusable. There are certain responsibilities that come with being a senior Jumbo. The rules and conventions of Medford and Somerville are not new.
Off campus students have to learn, frequently the hard way, that getting drunk and lighting furniture on fire is not responsible neighborhood behavior. When students are clearly engaging in illegal, disruptive acts, police have no choice but to arrest. Students need to learn that having fun is not an acceptable excuse for their behavior in the adult world.
To stamp out these intolerable behaviors, the University needs to better educate students when they are underclassmen.
The current efforts of the University do not address the core of the problem. Health Services co-sponsors alcohol-free parties. ResLife offers substance free living and more events where alcohol is not served. These options are ignored by the vast majority of students.
The administration needs a new strategy. The school should realize that students will continue to drink, regardless of their efforts. For better or for worse, alcohol is an integral part of university life. What needs to be changed is the education methodology. In the same way that sex education discusses methods of birth control and safe sex, alcohol education should be about how to drink, not a deluge of facts twisted to scare anyone away from alcohol for life.
The current alcohol education program provided to students is one that focuses on all the risks of alcohol, and inundates students with survey after survey. Instead of an impersonal program most students will click through without reading, there needs to be a discussion of the issues associated with alcohol consumption.
College will be many students first introduction to drinking. The responsibility of university educators is to ensure that these experiences do not inflict lasting damage on the student or the community. Students need practical advice - don't drink on an empty stomach, don't mix alcohol and prescription medications - rather than boring handouts. They need to be able to navigate their first frat or house party, aware of the varying effects of different alcohols and know to drink at an appropriate pace.
Drinking is and always will be an issue at the University. The responsibility of Tufts is not to try and fight alcohol use, but to encourage responsible drinking and minimize embarrassing incidents in the future.
