Dorms with No Alcohol Or Drugs University housing options may rank near the top of record of items that can influence your advanced schooling experience. Your memories of dorm, Greek or off-campus living will stick to you the remainder of your life making for many interesting — and colorful — tales to generally share along with your kiddies and friends whilst the years carry on.
At some colleges, as a result of dilemmas connected with over-enrollment, residing conditions have started off instead rocky. At Penn State’s University Park campus some years back, dorm area had been therefore scarce that the number of incoming first-years had to call home in a screened-off part of the primary student union building. Exactly How weird is that?
At Princeton University, the overflow of enrollees one year needed a gathering of modular domiciles (a.k.a. ‘trailers’) on a previous field that is athletic leading to what looked like a tiny retirement community for the elderly. There were some disparaging remarks made about those atypically housed first-years, the majority of which came from all the other Princetonians whom lived in the splendor that is gothic of other vaunted residential colleges.
There was one option, nevertheless, that, if we were headed to college today, i might surely pursue due to the general characteristics and promise: substance-free housing (SFH). If you are active in the college procedure right now or understand someone who is a college student whom lives on campus, you’ve got probably been aware of SFH. The facts and exactly what could be some benefits and drawbacks about this?
Think about College Stereotypes
What is one of the more typical pictures that comes to mind whenever you visualize stereotypes of college life? Fraternity events? Empty beer kegs traveling through windows? Staggering pupils? The odor of hops, cigarette and barley or marijuana smoke permeating the atmosphere? Stereotypes occur for a reason. They’re often quite alarmingly accurate. Think Animal House.
Then you may want to explore the SFH options at the colleges to which you’re considering applying or where you decide to enroll this spring if you are turned off by these kinds of behaviors. A search was done by me for schools that provide substance-free housing and, as usual, I happened to be overrun with links. One website link that arrived up was this one, which had a partial but list that is interesting of. Here is a sampling:
Albright College (browsing, Pa.): Single-sex floors, apartments. Honors, first-year, substance-free and break housing
Bucknell University (Lewisburg, Pa.): Substance-free, Judaic studies, Afro-American studies and ecological cooperative housing
James Madison University (Harrisonburg, Va.): Theme housing for international, learning and substance-free, and second-year experience communities. Fraternity houses located off campus
New York University (New York, N.Y.): health, theme, substance-free, first-year experience, sophomore experience, residing learning and co-ed housing
Babson University (Babson Park, Mass.): Substance-free, discounted and special-interest housing
Is SFH Effective?
The greater buy term paper for college amount of cynical among us may concern the effectiveness of SFH. I have heard doubters say that some SFH residents reside where there are not any ‘substances’ but then wander away from their SF dorms and head to events here and there. Hence, they cite a component of hypocrisy. What do some media say on how well SFH works?
‘ … As it ends up, it can make a difference.,’ claims The New York occasions. ‘No one claims that students who live in substance-free housing refrain from smoking, alcohol consumption or drugs that are using. But at least based on one study, they don’t really indulge up to others. A 2001 research of more than 14,000 students nationwide found that, compared with other students, only three-fifths as numerous residents of substance-free housing reported binge ingesting in the last fourteen days.
‘There were other benefits, too. Pupils in substance-free housing, the research found, were less likely to experience alcohol-related dilemmas, like getting behind in schoolwork, damaging property, engaging in difficulty using the authorities or riding with a drunken motorist.
‘There is, of course, a chicken-and-egg element to these findings. Students hoping for an university experience that bears some relationship to Animal House aren’t prone to opt for substance-free housing. …
‘ … At numerous campuses, residents of regular dorms, as well as those assigned to substance-free housing they did not demand, say they truly are happy the option exists.
”I think it’s good that universities have wellness choice,’ stated Beatrice Capestany, a freshman who was assigned to your wellness corridor of Vassar’s sole remaining all-female dorm, although she did not demand it. ‘My dorm is really a excellent destination to keep coming back house to if I gone out. It smells a lot nicer than other dorms, too.’ On that exact same wellness corridor, Victoria Ramsey and Kathryn Thomas, both freshmen, could not be more happy with their choice.
”i don’t drink or smoke, and our corridor is quiet and clean,’ stated Ms. Ramsey.
‘Ms. Thomas included: ‘I desired a peaceful place for learning. Sometimes it is a refuge, for those who come and remain till they understand the ongoing party on their floor has died down.”
Okay. This is the good part associated with SFH coin. To remain reasonable and balanced, let’s take a look at the flip part, and a few points from Andrew Gottlieb’s Why substance free housing is just a idea that is bad
‘ I became surprised to find out that substance residents that are free allowed to take in, and many more surprised to discover that numerous do take in. Also despite these surprises, my freshmen experience has led me to take buy term paper for college issue that is serious the thought of substance-free housing. Its simply unneeded, unjust and divisive to designate entire floors as substance free.
‘ … If someone is company in their choice never to partake in consuming, he/she could do this irrespective of where she or he lives. She prefers not even to have alcohol in the room, there could be an option to choose a substance free roommate, without designating entire floors as substance free if he or.
‘The substance free designation is unjust because often the choice to live on a substance-free floor is not left in the possession of of the pupil. I have met numerous pupils whoever parents forced them to reside on a floor that is sub-free or even worse, I’ve met pupils who didn’t ask to live on a sub-free flooring but had been placed on one anyhow simply because Residential lifetime needed to fill spaces. College is just a spot where at long final, young people attain independence that is full. Creating a living option that may be better than parents that are many not to their children is just a disservice to students as well as an intrusion in the independency that college promises. …
‘ … truth be told that throughout virtually every Wash. U. graduate’s life, they will have to do business with and most likely live with or near people who don’t trust their individual choices about alcohol along with other substances. a chance that is important get ready for this part of life will come in university. The opportunity to live with, comprehend and respect the different choices of the classmates is indispensable. Washington University should recognize this opportunity that is important change its housing policies, which currently hamper it.’
Gottlieb confirms that some SFH residents do, indeed, imbibe, which notably substantiates the hypocrisy argument, although one has to comprehend the intent of every university’s SFH guidelines and also the motives of these whom decide to live here (and maybe the perspective of the who’ve been quartered there as being a matter of random positioning).
Some Schools Have Contracts
If you are into highly quantified thinking about SFH, then you can care to check out the Journal of Studies on Alcohol, funded by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The Harvard Gazette sources that and attests towards the aspect that is positive of whenever it notes:
Residents of college housing where smoking and alcohol had been prohibited were less likely to be victims of actions by students who have been consuming. Findings from the Harvard School of Public wellness College Alcohol learn show that substance-free university residence halls are making an effect in the effort to reduce the harms that hefty consuming produces among students. It was the study that is first have a nationwide look at the relationship between substance-free dorms while the effects of alcohol on college campuses. …
Do SFH residents need certainly to create a pledge that they will abide by the principles of these university’s SFH charter? Here’s an example of exactly how Davidson university handles the SFH ‘contract’ [see my bold emphasis]:
You can expect substance-free housing for anyone students who would like to minmise their publicity in their living environment to alcohol and behavior that is alcohol-related illicit medications and cigarette smoking materials. Students residing in these grouped communities accept perhaps not utilize liquor or drugs on the floor community nor bring the consequences of those substances back in the hall.
A link towards the substance-free housing application are going to be incorporated into a contact from Jason Shaffer. Halls and/or floors become designated as substance-free is going to be determined after applications are received.
All students picking a substance free assignment are going to be required to complete a substance housing contract that is free. Failure to uphold the expectations will result in relocation likely to a different project.
The College Confidential discussion forum members have actually debated the professionals and cons of SFH. Below are a few feedback from this informative thread:
‘Our child had been afraid to choose sub-free her freshman year it really meant in terms of the types of kids that she’d be paired with because she wasn’t sure what. It was too basic at her school. a “quiet dorm” would’ve been one thing she’d likely have selected, but “sub-free” seemed too general. Even though she’s not really a partier, she’s buddies that are. Into the end, she regretted maybe not selecting it, I believe. However it depends upon the educational college therefore the kid.’
‘At both my kids’ big state universities, all of the dorms had been officially called ‘substance free’ but that did not stop young ones from doing whatever they wanted to do. My son knew some guys that got kicked out from the dorms into the very first semester of freshman 12 months one for cannabis usage and also the other for drinking …’
‘My daughter did substance free housing her first two years at a little liberal arts university. The youngsters had to signal an agreement that they would not take in or smoke cigarettes inside or come back to the dorm under the influence(or back bring anyone else beneath the influence). There was clearly no stigma, merely a nice peaceful dorm without wild parties. Like other people stated, no vomit within the general public areas or vandalism damage. Best part was nobody ever pulled the fire alarm the night’
Therefore, when you are considering your college housing choices, it may pay to look at exactly how (or if) substance-free housing would squeeze into your plans. All of the information you need to make a decision about this can be obtained in your colleges’ housing web pages. Give it a look!
