The concept of dry campuses was introduced in the 1990s. According to the law, students are not allowed to consume alcohol on the territory of the campus (Moak par. 14). Though there was an unwritten ban on alcohol consumption on campuses, there were numerous cases of injuries or even deaths associated with students’ drinking. The law was regarded as an effective solution to the problem. However, the law has proved to be ineffective as students still consume alcohol excessively. Therefore, it is ineffective to force students to drink less by making campuses ‘dry’ but it is necessary to launch a program involving the concepts of moist campuses and particular attention to universities’ culture.
As has been mentioned above, the law has proved to be completely ineffective and needs revisiting. Scribner et al. note that alcohol is “a factor in 40% of academic problems” including 28% of dropouts in the USA (806). The researchers also claim that more than 1,800 student deaths are related to alcohol consumption (Scribner et al. 806). It is noteworthy that students still drink on campus (Moak n.p.). More so, students often leave the campus to go to the party and drink there which is associated with a variety of issues for the neighbourhood (Sanburn par. 5). Firstly, wild parties of students are noisy and often lead to certain damage to the neighbourhood. Secondly, drunk students tend to drive to their campuses form the parties and are a threat to people and property in the neighbourhood.
Therefore, it is crucial to let students have parties and consume certain amount of alcohol (so, the concept of a moist campus is introduced) (Moak par. 7). However, universities also have to pay specific attention to their culture and educators have to encourage students to focus on their academic performance and share such values as decency, pursuit of academic and career goals and so on. Students have to understand what is good and what is wrong. They have to make a responsible choice as they will understand that certain behaviour can lead to punishment (including expulsion). Developing appropriate culture and making students share particular values can be an effective solution.
Some may argue that enabling students to purchase alcohol and consume it on a campus may encourage underage drinking and lead to increase in alcohol consumption as students will be able to access alcohol easily. Nonetheless, this argument is not effective. Firstly, students are still drinking with or without the law prohibiting alcohol consumption on campus. Secondly, students drinking outside the campus are more likely to encourage underage drinking as the parties are held in neighbourhood where young people of all ages can appear (for example, high school students). Thirdly, dry campuses make it impossible to control alcohol consumption as students buy alcohol in the neighbourhood and the amount of drinks consumed is often considerable.
In conclusion, it is possible to state that the concept of dry campuses has proved to be ineffective and has to be changed to the concept of moist campuses where the alcohol selling (as well as consumption) is controlled. It is impossible to force students to drink less by forbidding drinking on campus. However, it is possible to try another strategy. It is possible to let students drink but it is essential to pose certain regulations, restrictions and, of course, sanctions. There should also be particular punishment for binge drinking and inappropriate behaviour.
Works Cited
Moak, Taylor. UK Revisiting ‘Dry’ Campus Alcohol Policy. 2013. Web.
Sanburn, Josh. Drinking on Campus: University of Kentucky Relaxes Its Alcohol Policy. 2014. Web.
Scribner, Richard, Azmy S. Ackleh, Ben G. Fitzpatrick, Geoffrey Jacquez, eremy J. Thibodeaux, Robert Rommel and Neal Simonsen. “A Systems Approach to College Drinking: Development of a Deterministic Model for Testing Alcohol Control Policies.” Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs 70.5 (2009): 805-821. Print.