<p>Three students have died at UCSB since November 9, with at least two of the deaths related to alcohol and/or drugs. </p>
<p>It is reasonable for a parent to expect some sort of contact from the administration of the university outlining an action plan to address the situation? Or as parents do we just accept that our 18 year olds are now adults and hope for the best?</p>
<p>What would you propose the university to do? I don’t mean that in a snarky manner, but how do you sort out the 18 year olds from the 22 year olds with regard to alcohol? Drugs are illegal but they are in our society, how would you propose a university to handle it (differently)?</p>
<p>My kids both took a gap year before going off to college.
I realize accidents happen, but some people are more attracted to risky situations than others. If a parent doesnt think their child is able to behave responsibly, it is certainly reasonable to wait until they are ready.</p>
<p>UCSB requires all new students to take an online alcohol safety & sexual violence prevention course, which sounds like it gives students information that they may not have had regarding risky situations.</p>
<p>I dont know what else they can do to inform the decision making process of their adult students.</p>
<p>I guess I’m on edge because each of our last 3 phone calls with our daughter has started with her telling us another student had died. I agree, it’s unrealistic to expect the university to monitor risky behavior of kids living off campus. However a somber message from the Chancellor or other campus representative to parents might help raise awareness of the tragedies and lead to intervention that could prevent it happening again.</p>
<p>I will say that if my daughter had decided to attend WSU, I probably would have made sure her dorm didn’t have a balcony.
[Officials</a> seek solution to stem fraternity falls | Local News | The Seattle Times](<a href=“http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2019789078_universityfalls30m.html]Officials”>http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2019789078_universityfalls30m.html)</p>
<p>The house she lives in ( at another school ), does have alot of stairs, but no balconies.</p>
<p>Just as I had to take down the swing set when she was six, because she was jumping off the top, I expect there are design changes that can be made in housing to reduce accidents.</p>
<p>Three deaths at UCSB (my alma mater by the way) is very scary! Were they freshmen?</p>
<p>Thank you for the link EK, two of the UCSB deaths were also due to falls. The article indicates that WSU and U Idaho officials are alarmed and that the WSU president has formed a task force in response to a death due to alcohol poisoning. City officials are getting involved to review building codes. I guess these are some of things I would like to hear happening at UCSB.</p>
<p>These deaths of young people are so awful, especially because the young person, 24 hours later, would have found a better path.</p>
<p>My son has known too many college students who have made a leap from a roof or whatever. It is terrible. Only solution is train to train all freshman to recognize symptoms and call alerts,even if overreacting. For every life saved,it is a blessing.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Oh, here is the simplistic answer. A lot more starting by looking for those bones that form a backbone. </p>
<p>I am consistently amazed that stories like this one appear to surprise parents. I am amazed because those stories are the same old stories as the year before, and the year before. </p>
<p>Is it hard to find the common denominators of the causes behind most deaths? Nope! Read enough stories and you will get a lesson in the use of …Greek letters. Yes, there is almost always a fraternity behind the most egregious behavior on or near the campus. </p>
<p>What could universities do? Work hard --really hard-- to eradicate every form of those cancerous organizations that should have no place in any education setting. The good, the bad, and the ugly. It does not matter. All and every one of them!</p>
<p>Will it happen? Nope. Not until the romantic and nostalgic parents who support those activities stop paying and defending the very core of those organizations.</p>
<p>tx5,</p>
<p>The kids who died were 19, 21 and 22, they were not freshmen. One fell from a cliff in Isla Vista, one fell with another student from an apartment building (the other student survived) and one died from alcohol poisoning. Apparently the cliff falls are a fairly regular occurrence due to the geography of Isla Vista. We walked through Isla Vista on a recent visit and were appalled at the seeming lack of any code enforcement at all. I know this is what endears the area to students, but as a parent I can’t understand how the city can allow some of these structures to house students.</p>
<p>Darwin I suppose.</p>
<p>What can the school do? Well, my son’s school sent letters to freshmen parents before school started asking us to talk with our kids and partner with them on the issue of alcohol abuse – they even sent us a booklet with information to help us have those talks. We got more than one message like that. So my guess is that if there had been deaths from alcohol poisoning that an email would go out to parents, like it did during the hurricane, but on this topic asking us, again, to talk with our kids and also letting us know what they are doing on their end to try to combat the problem of binge-drinking.</p>
<p>Thank you for your input mimk6. I have been talking to quite a few parents of my daughter’s friends from high school, and it appears the excess drinking is universal and a common concern among parents. And it’s not just fraternities and sororities promoting the culture, the kids sit in their rooms and “pre game” before heading out to the parties. If they are caught they complete an online slap-on-wrist “re-education” program akin to traffic school. </p>
<p>And Icarus, the fact that the campus has made no effort to communicate with parents on the issue makes me feel as though they agree with you.</p>
<p>If drinking age was reduced to 18, how much would it help curb the alcohol issues?</p>
<p>Icarus77, saying that deaths related to impulse control and reasoning is simply weeding out the stupid, is particularly callous and cold.</p>
<p>We childproof our homes when our children are toddlers, & since we know that college age students are prone to undertake sensation seeking activities, it seems prudent when designing buildings for them to use, that we keep their decision making skills in mind, including the fact that their impulse control may be limited even more by alcohol.</p>
<p>High rise dorms with balconies seem like a bad idea all around, even without use of alcohol.</p>
<p>[Neurology</a> Now: Buzz Kill: How does alcohol affect the teenage brain? – American Academy of Neurology](<a href=“http://patients.aan.com/resources/neurologynow/index.cfm?event=home.showArticle&id=ovid.com%3A%2Fbib%2Fovftdb%2F01222928-201107060-00008]Neurology”>http://patients.aan.com/resources/neurologynow/index.cfm?event=home.showArticle&id=ovid.com%3A%2Fbib%2Fovftdb%2F01222928-201107060-00008)</p>
<p>One somewhat elite private college on the east coast dealt with their alcohol/drug issues by simply expelling students - even when they were close to graduation. A couple of these kids came from very wealthy families who threatened that if the school followed through with the expulsion, the family would see to it that there would be no endowment/contribution from the family fund. The school stuck to its guns. The kids were expelled. Others were suspended for a year. Alcohol/drugs problem became far less acute once the school made the stand. Granted, this was a small private where all the kids lived on campus, so it was easy for the school to monitor partying and step in when it became excessive. May not work for a big public - although the party scene even at Univ of Colorado-Boulder was curtailed when the school made a public commitment to curtail it.</p>
<p>Great article EK, lots of information that was new to me. Underage smoking has plummeted since serious efforts began to curb usage, why does alcohol get a wink and a nudge when it comes to enforcement? </p>
<p>The college town adjacent to UCSB, Isla Vista, has 1 grocery, 1 book store and 3 liquor stores. The liquor stores are packed floor to ceiling with hard alcohol marketed to young adults. </p>
<p>Part of the problem is best expressed in an article by a former Isla Vista resident:</p>
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</p>
<p>[Isla</a> Vista Changes You The Santa Barbara Independent](<a href=“Isla Vista Changes You - The Santa Barbara Independent”>Isla Vista Changes You - The Santa Barbara Independent)</p>
<p>katliamom, I think even moderate increases in enforcement would help a lot. I am amazed at the number of underage kids who pose proudly with their weed and bottles of vanilla vodka on Instagram. They don’t care if anyone sees because they have no fear of sanctions.</p>
<p>As adults we make choices.I assumed I was an adult when I went to college and was fully accountable for the choices I made.Choosing to drink and drive or drink and play on balconies or roofs etc. has consequences.</p>
<p>Actually emeraldkiity4 they made a choice a very bad choice.When I entered college I assumed I was an adult and was responsible for my decisions. I paid for college and accepted the consequences of my actions.Driving drunk ,drinking and playing on balconies or roofs etc. is bad choice that has tragic consequences.</p>
<p>
I think most parents realize that alcohol/drugs/and other unsafe activities occur on college campuses and hopefully most of them have discussions with the kids before they head to campus (actually ongoing conversations from well before they were in HS). Do they really need a letter from a college to tell them to have a discussion on alcohol/drugs with their kids before heading off to college? Does anyone think these students didn’t know there could be negative consequences to their irresponsible use of substances like this? I certainly didn’t need a letter from a college to provoke me to have relevant conversations with my kids.</p>
<p>Ultimately the responsibility lies with the kid. They’re the only ones in control of what they do to themselves and the choices they make. These students who attend a college like UCSB aren’t complete idiots in all respects - UCSB is a fairly selective U and all of the students there were academically successful in HS.</p>
<p>I can see a few things that can be done - </p>
<ul>
<li><p>Students taking responsibility for themselves. Granted, they’re only 17/18 when they head to college and don’t have fully formed brains yet, but well over 99% of the students manage to NOT die of alcohol/drug abuse so it’s possible to be somewhat responsible. They also should educate themselves on binge drinking, the effect on them of alcohol/drugs, peer pressure, etc.</p></li>
<li><p>Parents having ongoing discussions on the topics with their kids. This should include not glamorizing how drunk they used to get when they were in college or just encouraging them to head of to college and ‘have fun’ wink wink. They should also tell the student the consequences including loss of parental financial support if the student isn’t behaving properly in this regard. </p></li>
<li><p>The college can quit condoning or looking the other way. They can have a firm policy regarding underaged drinkers being found with alcohol/drugs or legal aged inebriated students on campus and enforce it. This should include adequate patrolling, mandated courses if caught the first time, suspension, and expulsion at some point. It needs to be serious. The college can’t enforce the off-campus activities however. They might also be able to make some building design changes to make it harder to fall off of a balcony or have non-opening windows, at least for new dorms. But really, it’s a very small percentage of students who ever fall out of a building and there’s only so much that can be done to physically prevent someone from themselves.</p></li>
<li><p>The prevailing attitude of “oh well, all college students drink” needs to change. Firstly, it isn’t true, and secondly, it sends a message that it’s acceptable. I’ve seen posts from a number of cc’ers articulating that attitude.</p></li>
<li><p>The city could do more enforcement of Isla Vista. That area has quite the reputation and from people I’ve talked to it’s well deserved. From what I’ve heard it wouldn’t be terribly difficult to find underaged drinkers there on a Thursday night (or any other night). Someone is providing the alcohol to the underaged drinkers and they should be accountable as well.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>I think all parties need to pay attention to the issue but at the end of the day, regardless of what anyone else does, it’s the students who must take responsibility for themselves.</p>
<p>And no - I don’t think lowering the drinking age to 18 will help and would likely hurt the situation and regardless, two of these people were of legal drinking age. ‘mini’ can maybe chime in with the statistics.</p>