Usually the message is, "Hi, it's (insert parent). Just wanted to see how your day was." But, this time … oh no, it was a very different message. "Hi, its Mom. I just got a bill for four parking tickets and dorm damage. Did you vomit and not clean it up? What is going on?" For the record, yes, I did get four parking tickets at the beginning of the semester; but no, the vomit was not mine.
So, I called her back and over the course of the conversation it came to light that the College had just sent home bills for dorm damage, parking violations and any other miscellaneous fines that college students somehow manage to accrue. My parents were not happy, and neither was I.
At the beginning of the year, I assumed that I would be able to pay for any parking tickets I happened to unfortunately acquire, either at the time of its issuance or at the end of the year. But, judging from the conversation with my mom and the stories of just about every other student, this is not at all the case. Instead of fining the student directly, the bill gets sent home to the family. Mom and Dad or both are left to foot the bill, at least temporarily.
I've often wondered why the administration does some of the things they do. Like, why such a strict parking ban is in effect even when there is no snow, or why certain professors receive tenure when others don't. Usually I'm willing to accept the fact that they know more than I do about how to run a college. But, I have no possible idea why the College does not bill students directly for fines or penalties that they receive.
Coming to college, we're told this is our first big step toward adulthood, when bills will come in our name and we will have to put food on the table. At Amherst, the emphasis seems to be on students trying things for themselves and facing the potential consequences, while in a safe environment.
Sure, the school is lenient about drinking, and maybe they don't demand as much accountability as other schools for deviant behavior. But the whole idea is to help us to take responsibility and learn from our mistakes. We're told that even though we, as students, are generally not paying the bulk of our tuition, our parents can't see our grades until we give them access or send them a copy.
So why are we given such control over so many aspects of our lives, and yet the College makes us rely on Mommy and Daddy's checkbooks to pay for dorm damage or rules that we break? Why should I have to come home and try to explain to my parents why they are getting a bill for something that I did wrong (or, in many cases, did not do)?
Of course, I can very easily send my parents a check for the cost of the tickets and fines. But, why should my parents need to know that I parked my car in the wrong spot on Feb. 14, or that someone in my dorm puked all over the stairs and the whole dorm has to pay?
If they receive the bill, then they have the right to know because they are the ones who have to pay for it. But there is no reason that a bunch of 20-year-olds can't take fiscal responsibility for their actions. I realize everyone has different financial situations, but shouldn't it be up to the student to make arrangements to right their wrongs?
If I incur a parking violation in town, the bill is my responsibility to pay; and if my parents ask me what happened, I can explain. But no parent should have to endure the shock of opening up a bill and being charged for their college student's actions. That kind of parental responsibility should end in high school.
People often wonder why so much dorm damage occurs or why students are so flagrant about their violation of parking rules. Perhaps it is because Amherst doesn't force us to be accountable for our behavior.
I am trying to avoid another parking ticket, but, to be perfectly honest, it's highly likely that I will receive another. Maybe getting the bill for my parking tickets wouldn't stop me from forgetting that I've left my car on campus on a Tuesday night, and maybe having to pay the dollar that everyone gets charged for unidentified puke wouldn't make me try to find the culprit, but it would ensure that I don't have to come home from a long day of school and be bombarded with questions and accusations from surprised and justifiably angry parents. It's about time Amherst really made us act like adults, not kids at summer camp, getting drunk and making mistakes, relying on their parents to bail them out.