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That any university expected college students behave differently than this is, to me, proof that colleges spend a stunningly small amount of time thinking about brain development of young adults. A sad thing, given that they are supposed to be teaching those brains. https://twitter.com/CBSNews/status/1304502679482310659
College students do not think about the long term impact of the things that they do. They think about immediate gratification and social status. This is simply a fact of *brains*. This is not a knock on college students. They are simply under the age of 25.
College students think they live in their own world and have no impact on ppl outside their circle. Colleges, in fact, reinforce that by requiring people to live on campus and forcing them to become part of the "community." It is easy for them to think, "Who cares, it's just us."
Which is why this kid can confidently walk up to a police officer while *knowing* he has COVID, and still not put a mask on. He's probably not "stupid." He's just ridiculously unaware of his own impact on the world — like every other 20 year old.
Anyway, my rant as a former teacher of high school seniors and current teacher of college students has now concluded. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.
one more thing: Colleges do not have appropriate isolation requirements or testing methods, and then they expect these *college children* to figure it out for themselves and when they get it wrong they call in *the police.* That's bananas. Just freaking *bananas.*
"Go isolate in your frat house" is just inherently a stupid policy but yes, let's blame the 20 year old.
Like we are all going to get outraged, someone is going to go identify this kid, and he's gonna be harassed. When to me the real problem is: Miami University told you to isolate in a frat house where 8 other people live and isn't really monitoring the progress of that.
This is like giving a student no books or resources, showing a ppt & then getting mad *at them* when they fail a test. Universities play an outsize role in students' lives- housing,food,class,social stuff. They rely on the college to tell them what to do. It's what they pay for.
Imagine showing up at a business, breaking a bunch of rules you weren't really aware of, and then having that business call the police and fine you $500. That's what these universities — which are paid for a service they are providing — are doing.
If universities didn't want to be the arbiter of student behavior and health then they shouldn't demand students get university healthcare, make them living in student housing, make them eat their meals on campus and hire their own police forces. They are cities.
Blaming a college student when their university fails to implement appropriate social distancing and housing policies is the ultimate act of punching down and I hope journalists are smart enough to get to the root cause of the problem instead of shaming normal college behavior.
I'm actually done now HAVE A GOOD DAY
And for those of you who think I'm insulting college students or calling them "stupid," I'm explicitly not! I'm glad *your* college student is following the rules — but that's probably because you or their university have made clear what those are and you explained the stakes.
College students are great at following clear directions, and generally care for the wellbeing of others. They are not sociopaths. They are simply young, and not aware of the fullness of their impact on society. That's just science. You must model and enforce good behavior.
This! Among college students' chief concerns is being accepted/liked by their peers. If you do not enforce that part of that is *keeping people safe* thereby making this a social imperative that you *enforce with clear rules* then they'll do what you ask. https://twitter.com/drjessigold/status/1304535181009788929?s=20
