Should UniversitiesTeach Behavior 101?

David Perlmutter’s Dec. 4 commentary on college misbehavior, “Teacher Dilemma: Sued If You Do, Sued If You Don’t,” was the sort of silliness that gives academia a bad name. Perlmutter claims that colleges are “scared off by the prospects of litigation” from telling students how to behave. Nothing could be further from the truth. Colleges still have behavioral codes, and I have never heard of an institution being sued for enforcing a reasonable code.

To the contrary, it is common to hear of students being punished for the same things that would get them in trouble were they off campus.

The ridiculousness of the entire in loco parentis [in the place of the parents] concept is highlighted by the fact that there is no similar eagerness to police the private behavior of young people who do not go to college. Would Perlmutter have us believe that enrolling in a university somehow makes young people incapable of responsible behavior? If not, why does he think such paternalism is necessary?

What Perlmutter is really whining about is the fact that he is not allowed to tell students in minute detail how to run their lives. Based on the evidence of his commentary, I can imagine few people less qualified for that task.

Geoffrey H. Kuenning

Assistant Professor

Harvey Mudd College

Claremont

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The world recognizes 18-year-olds as adults, so why should universities have to treat them as little children? Parents should not be allowed to sue the universities because their child made a stupid mistake; they should blame themselves for not bringing up their children to behave well on their own.

I’m 17, and if I make a mistake my parents hold me responsible for it, not whoever was supposed to watch me. Hey, college kids, if you can’t take care of yourselves, move back home.

Cathryn Taggart

Van Nuys