<p>My weekend morning rant.
For better and for worse, I live a couple of blocks from Boston University. Last night as I was about to turn in, I found a car full of college age kids under my bedroom window. They were passing alcohol bottles around and what smelled like marijuana for at least half an hour. I went through my usual pangs when this happens, do I call the police or not? (I usually do.) On the one hand I am a child of the 60’s, need I say more? On the other hand, I don’t want any parent to receive a call their child has been in a car wreck. I didn’t call last night and now feel terrible, and am praying those kids are okay.
This morning we found a college age kid in the entry way of my building collapsed in a puddle of vomit. Fortunately, a neighbor had already called the police . I can’t stop thinking about him, he’s someone’s child.
I find this all so distressing, the bottom line is I want these kids to be safe, but feel badly when I call the police and badly when I don’t. Does anyone else live next to a college campus and get caught in these situations? If you had a child in the carload of drinking and smoking kids, would you want me to call the police?</p>
<p>second spring - What a wrenching circumstance.</p>
<p>Me, I would want you to call the police, knowing that there could be consequences for my S. But I’m betting a lot of parents (whether they would say so in advance or not) would be annoyed, following the “They were just being kids! Who is this busybody?” approach.</p>
<p>The answer is in the second part of your post - a kid collapsed in his own vomit. From your post, I assume he was alive and “well.” Easily, he could have gone from unconscious to deceased. Like I said - me, I’d rather have him in trouble or in jail than dead from alcohol poisoning or being a driver or passenger in a DUI car.</p>
<p>Yes, I would want you to call the police.
Just because one is a child of the 60s doesn’t make what they are doing safe. There are plenty of people who lived in the 60s who didn’t make it past that time because of drug or alcohol-related behavior.</p>
<p>I’d rather have my kid face charges due to alcohol or drug use than for my kid to be dead.</p>
<p>Second spring,
A few months ago I would not have called the police, but now I would.</p>
<p>Last month, a family member (not a college student, she was in her thrties) died in an alcohol-related accident. She was returning home from a bar - she was not wearing her seat belt. I wish someone had called the police if they had noticed she was too intoxicated to drive. Thankfully, there were no other deaths involved in that accident. Her parents are heartbroken and will never be the same again.</p>
<p>Yes, now I would call the police.</p>
<p>Wow, I didnt know people at BU partied THAT hard. Good to know I guess? I sure as hell wouldnt party like that. Crazy.</p>
<p>I’d call. If they drive away and kill some innocent person, then how would you feel?</p>
<p>jPoD - if you think this type of behavior is special to BU, you should re-think.</p>
<p>Call the police.</p>
<p>Roll him over on his stomach so he doesn’t pull a Hendrix, and don’t call the cops.</p>
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<p>No, I dont. I didnt think it really existed at BU. From what i’ve heard it’s more common at say UMass than BU.</p>
<p>^ Unfortunately there isn’t a college in the country that doesn’t have this problem. (OK, except maybe some fundamentalist religious place.)</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for your thoughts. Micromom, I am so sorry about your family member and yes, this is why I usually end up placing a call, to hopefully prevent such a tragedy. I feel so hard nosed, but think if one of my kids was in harms way I would want someone to intervene. On ocassion I get “they’re just kids having fun” comments, so thanks for the reality check.
jPoD-I don’t think there is more or less substance abuse at BU than other schools. The difference may be that it is in the midst of a densely populated
urban area, so the behavior is probably more visible to the surrounding community.
Hopefully tonight will be less eventful for my building.</p>
<p>Ok, noted. Still doesnt dissuade me from going there :P</p>