Let's assume for a second you're an adult when you get to college.
A big assumption perhaps, judging by the behavior of assorted students, what with their drinking and their general (though understandable) level of irresponsibility, but valid nonetheless.
For the first time, you're away from parents and their rules.
No longer are you a slave to curfew and regulation. You are your own man or woman.
You do as you please.
Just try and stop you. Just try.
That is, of course, unless you live in the dorms.
In the dorms, you're an occasional adult--an adult-in-training.
Adults-in-training aren't allowed to drink alcohol--which makes sense, as most are underage--violate strict noise regulations or have visitors of the opposite sex from midnight to noon.
Resident advisors rule over these adults-in-training, dishing out punishment and scorn on those straying from dorm edicts.
Well, that's the idea anyway.
In reality, all RAs are not created equal.
Some are lenient, others strict.
So it goes.
The biggest issue facing dorms and RAs is the antiquated visitation hour regulation.
As of now, members of the opposite sex are not allowed in the same room from midnight to noon.
This rule was probably instituted back in the early 1900s, when pre-marital sex was a society-wide mythic secret and sex itself rarely discussed.
Also popular in the early 1900s: leechings and world wars.
Granted, housing officials will trot out safety issues and statistics, saying curfew restrictions protect students and ensure campus safety.
Perhaps the curfew does protect some students on occasion.
Who knows?
It is almost impossible to quantify the relationship between curfew restrictions and the stemming of violence and lewd behavior.
But again, are we adults?
Or are we simply adults-in-training?
An example of a flaw in the rule: Same-sex couples are allowed to inhabit the same room regardless the time.
Only members of the opposite sex are forbid from entering from midnight to noon.
This discrepancy isn't fair in the traditional sense.
Equality is equality; it goes both ways.
Not to say dorms should begin attempting to typecast homosexual students.
"Are you homosexual? No? OK, you can come in."
That is obviously ridiculous and insensitive and could in no way be regulated or enforced.
Instead, the University should make the visitation hour regulation optional.
Parents who want their children living under curfew could all live in a particular dorm or on a particular floor.
Of course, these unlucky souls would no doubt rise up and fight for their equality, but that's a worthwhile risk and a bridge to cross at a later date.
All the rule currently does is encourage those so inclined to stay out later and sleep in different locations.
If Jenny lives in the dorms, in which her boyfriend, Willy, is not allowed to visit or spend the night, she might decide to move in with Willy, affectively living off campus to avoid the dorm.
Jenny or her family will be paying for on-campus housing and yet she is shacking with her boyfriend in his apartment, annoying his two roommates and wreaking havoc upon the always delicate living situation of multiple males in close proximity.
Students might move out for other assorted issues, e.g. roommate problems, space, smell, excessive afternoon fornication, moldy showers, marathon World of Warcraft sessions, etc.
But trying to force them to adhere to a curfew which treats them like grown children cannot help increase the desire to stay.
Instead of forcing on-campus students to adhere to a rule instituted who knows when by who knows what type of crazy person, give them a choice.
At least give students the illusion of independence.
Our generation "grows-up" slower than any previous generation.
We have no great war. Our primary forms of communication are Facebook and text messaging.
After college, many graduates will move home to get "settled" or some such.
We have enough problems leaving adolescence behind.
Treat us like children and we will behave like children.
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