<p>Question: My son has already been accepted to his college of choice. However, very recently on a school trip, he and 11 others were nailed for alcohol use and consequently suspended for 3 days. In his particular case, he admits to drinking a little, but then distanced himself from the situation. Must […]</p>
<p>I find it extremely strange that drinking is treated as less of an offense than cheating. Cheating is something that many good students have done at least once the heat of the moment - much like drinking - when they are desperate on a test. However, drinking is a much more serious offense, can have far-reaching implications, and is actually a crime, and as such should be dealt with much more harshly, while cheating is probably just a “Youthful Foible.”</p>
<p>In my opinion, drinking and driving–at any age–is an extremely serious offense. More typical teen drinking, however, seems to fall under the rite-of-passage rubric … as long as it’s not a recurring pattern.</p>
<p>As for cheating, I’ve always argued that there are degrees of cheating. Copying fill-in-the-blank answers on a Spanish class worksheet from a seatmate on the school bus doesn’t seem equivalent in my mind to taking an entire term paper from the Internet or sneaking into a teacher’s file cabinet to steal test questions. </p>
<p>I know that there are those who would argue that there are not degrees of right and wrong. But I do feel that the more serious cheating offenses can signal character flaws or potential ongoing problems, while the minor ones are understandable and forgivable. Of course, sometimes the lines in between can be blurry.</p>
<p>Wishful thinking, notreal. In actuality, the National Association for College Admission Counseling expects its high school affiliates to:</p>
<p>" … report any significant change in a candidates academic status or qualifications, including personal school conduct record between the time of recommendation and graduation, where permitted by applicable law."</p>
<p>So many high school counselors will feel duty-bound to tell colleges about all disciplinary incidents, whether these results in suspension or not.</p>
<p>@Sally_Rubenstone – I agree with you assessment of alcohol use by people who are underage, that it is normal behavior but drinking and driving is never acceptable. The problem here is that the students engaged in this behavior while they were on a school trip. They involved the school and the school has no choice but to respond.</p>
<p>There seems to be a trend for suspensions this summer; I really don’t know what’s going on this year. A lot of students that I personally know have been suspended and were frightened out of their minds. They became bedridden, their grades dropped, and they barely ate. However, the school told them minor infractions are no big deal. Maybe they lied to those students to keep them working hard, but in reality, they will send it.</p>
<p>Yes, the school must respond, but there is still a fair amount of wiggle room when it comes to exactly how the school responds. For instance, the letter to colleges could say, “Some ordinarily wise and wonderful young people succumbed to atypical behavior in the excitement of the moment and are now deeply sorry and will surely be model citizens when they reach your campus,” or, instead, the report could read, “We regret to inform you that we have been gravely disappointed by this applicant about whom we spoke so highly several months ago …”</p>