<p>Huge mistake in the short-term or in the long-term? The 1,000 deaths you might prevent by notification are not guaranteed. Even with those deaths as given how many more people would not be able to know about their disease and seek treatment out of fear of notification? However, I do not believe that alcohol consumption is comparable to a communicable disease such as AIDS. You can’t “spread” alcohol poisoning. The most important concern, should be, that people who need immediate care receive it; all other concerns are secondary. For that reason you need to make calling an ambulance a process that does not have any significant consequences. Problems with excessive drinking (that do not directly harm others) are self-inflicted. Therefore, it is the individual who should have the ultimate choice over what would be best for them(in dealing with their drinking problem). I would not be against punishing individuals who hurt others in some way because of their drinking.</p>
<p>How many students really care if their parents are called? My kids know that there is little I can really do about their behavior at school and a call home is not something they live in fear of! What am I going to do, stop paying the college bills? Not likely and they know it! The only thing that a phone call could do is alert parents, who may TALK to the kid or maybe go for a visit to TALK to the kid, and after all, isn’t communication really the key anyway?</p>
<p>Sarahsmom, You and I both feel that way, but apparently some parents do not. I posted something similar to yours way back at the beginning and some of the responses were a resounding, “that’s your family” in nature. And sitting right here, I can think of a handful of people I know personally who believe with all their heart and soul that their kids would never drink or smoke weed, and would be heartbroken to find out they do. When I was in college, I would have moved heaven and earth to hide any problems from my dad, because he developed heart problems during my sophomore year and everyone basically walked around on pins and needles trying to remove stress from his life.</p>
<p>doubleplay, I’m sorry that your dad was ill, I would have done the same if I had been you.</p>
<p>Grew up in Wis, went to UW during the early 70’s, when the laws changed, have child there now. I was happy to read they may get parents involved, for the sake of the student. Notice, it seems only the very drunk, not the mildly so, will face the parental notification. The 18 year old age is good in trying to keep alcohol out of the high school crowd- no seniors buying it for weekend parties with younger, even less developed brains… there’s even an ad campaign now that warns parents they can face criminal charges for letting underage drinking occur in their homes (ie the HS parties). Knowing the state drinking culture, the binge drinking problems, etc., I applaud any efforts to help. I do not see any issue with rights, some of the Federal government’s privacy laws hurt more than help sometimes. UW fell out of the top 20 party ranks, and if you read local/UW news items you will find the local taverns have noticed a decrease in business. I also know that if the students felt their rights were being curtailed we would hear about the protests. No laws or system can perfectly address all needs, fortunately there are ways of working with/around them. </p>
<p>Parents - do not worry about sending your child (excuse me, letting them go) to UW-Madison. There are plenty of students who do not do the drinking. Anyone with a child involved in drinking needs to consider why their child chose to drink- if it’s the crowd they hang out with they can switch friends, easily done at such a large campus. BTW, it was “mix” (for Coke-Coca Cola) that students with their rum filled wineskins shouted at football games in the early 70’s. You get more than an academic education in college… Going through the parents’ version of SOAR (summer orientation) I felt very good about the ways UW tries to address all sorts of nonacademic, as well as academic, issues. Their website has a wealth of information, including the handbook given at SOAR so anyone interested can investigate how things are done. Just remember, no system is perfect- and the university can’t control, they can only try to change, student attitudes towards drinking (usually formed from parental attitudes).</p>
<p>Enough from me on this topic, my input won’t change anyone’s views…</p>