Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, June 16, 1995                   TAG: 9506170016
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-12   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: SYLVIA W. BAILEY
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

IT'S TIME THE ADULTS TOOK CHARGE

While neither the accuser nor the accused were Roanoke College students and testimonies were conflicting, many witnesses agreed that the incident was the result of a party where massive amounts of alcohol were served in various forms in a number of different rooms, including the dormitory's bathrooms and laundry room. Many students who prepared and consumed the alcoholic beverages were under 21 years of age.

Notwithstanding personal feelings, the jury's decision was made in accordance with the law. However, all 12 members had the same questions:

Where were the adults?

Who was in charge?

Are there no rules with follow-up and consequences?

As the mother of three college students, a counselor and an educator, I am appalled that young people are given so much freedom that this can happen on a church-supported campus, and one which, following alcohol-related tragedy in recent years, publicly committed to strict enforcement of rules concerning possession and consumption of alcoholic beverages.

While I realize the college cannot police every student 100 percent of the time, something seems drastically wrong when 80 or so young people can have a loud and wild party with no one noticing. Testimony showed that a security officer was called to open a room. Didn't he see, hear or smell anything out of the ordinary? Or has this become ordinary?

The lives of all the young people involved in this incident have been drastically affected. A young girl lost her innocence; a sister is experiencing guilt; a young man's college career was put on hold; parents and families have suffered. My heart aches for them all. We can only be grateful that a new life wasn't conceived, and pray that valuable lessons were learned.

It's time we demand accountability from ``adult'' students who provide alcohol to their underage peers, and from administrators who are charged with providing a safe residential life and environment for students. Alcohol abuse is rampant on our campuses, and we are failing our children by winking at the problem.

Having taught and counseled at the undergraduate level for a number of years, I have observed that, despite their pleas, many of today's young people are simply not ready to manage some social situations they put themselves into.

It's time that we as adults resume our appropriate roles of setting limits and administering consequences. Only when we begin to take a stand for what is right can we expect our young people to do so.

Sylvia W. Bailey, of Salem, is executive coordinator for the Blue Ridge Regional Education and Training Council.