Occasionally a young, inexperienced freshman who doesn't know his or her limit will drink too much alcohol and get sick enough to require a visit to the hospital. These students have usually been found passed somewhere after having vomited. I'm sure they feel horrible after such a rough night.
When students are so extremely intoxicated as to require medical treatment, I'm sure they have learned their lessons and been through enough strife. However, for kids at UGA, the ordeal doesn't end after being released from the hospital and charged with underage drinking. No, the poor kid is usually transported to jail right after being released from the hospital. Otherwise, a warrant is issued and the student must turn himself in and be booked into jail.
This is a horrible policy for several reasons, but most importantly because it discourages kids who find themselves in a dangerous situation to seek help. When kids know that seeking help when they find themselves in an emergency will earn them a trip to jail, they are unlikely to seek that help.
Take the example of Lewis Fish, a UGA student who died in his dorm room shortly after UGA implemented the notorious "go straight to jail" policy. Perhaps if the penalties weren't so unusually harsh, he could have been saved. UGA is currently the only college I am aware of where an MIP with no other complicating factors or additional crimes can earn a kid a trip to jail. The vast majority of other counties simply issue citations and let the kids walk away. The way Athens handles it is absolutely ridiculous and they should really rethink this policy before it causes more kids to die.
Instead of severely punishing drinkers who ARE NOT EVEN DRIVING OR ATTEMPTING TO DRIVE, HOW ABOUT ENACTING HARSHER PENALTIES FOR DUI??????
No comments:
Post a Comment