Keeping Zags Healthy and Safe during Halloween
By: Center for Cura Personalis (CCP)
Parents and Families,
Happy Fall! With the semester firmly underway, it’s time we start talking about trends and looking ahead to what might be coming around the corner. The next major holiday is Halloween, which can mean a lot of fun things. Unfortunately, it can also mean an excuse to overdrink. In celebration of autumn and in preparation for Halloween, we’d like to share some reminders to guide you in talking with your student about drinking.
For 1st Year Students:
By this time, your student has likely had some kind of encounter with alcohol, either in high school or at GU. They’re noticing what people around them do in their free time and are continually making decisions about how they themselves will or will not participate in the drinking culture. Some residence halls may have reputations for partying, and while these reputations are often inflated and not accurate representations of reality, students may believe them and try to live into them. Keep asking questions about how your student is taking care of themselves, and what they’re seeing around them. We know that our students, like college students around the nation, tend to overestimate how much and how frequently others are drinking. Reinforce your expectation that they will not engage in illegal behavior. Research shows that if your student believes you’re okay with them drinking, they’re more likely to drink, and to drink more per occasion. Continue to be firm and encourage all the other healthy and fun activities they’re taking part in. Also, remind them to report any alcohol emergencies or questionable situations to an RA or other campus professional ASAP! If you get the canned answer of, “There is nothing else to do”, your student isn’t looking hard enough. Between events at the Hemmingson Center, residence hall programs, SpikeNites, athletic events and more, there is always something going on. If your student needs help finding some of these other activities, encourage them to read their Morning Mail and reach out to the Center for Student Involvement.
For Sophomores:
Now that they’re not the new kids on the block, lots of sophomores begin to relax. They have moved from being the fresh faces on campus, living with complete strangers, to living with people they chose and enjoying the familiarity of college life. They might try things they wouldn’t have last year, like hosting social gatherings at their apartments. It is important that they know that hosting parties where alcohol is provided can carry stiffer penalties, and if your student is thinking about studying abroad next year, they’re not going to want alcohol or other conduct violations on their record. These things are taken into consideration during clearances for study abroad. While your student is still firmly on campus, encourage them to reflect on the friendships they’ve built. How are these friendships bringing positive things to their lives and are they satisfied with how they’re spending their time? Are there other opportunities for your student to get involved in something they have realized they have a passion for? In addition, reinforce how important and helpful it is for them to model positive behavior for the 1st year students they might be living nearby. Our sophomores can really help set the standard when it comes to preventing harm and expecting the best of each other.
For Juniors:
Is your student living off campus for the first time? What a great opportunity to build independence and self-reliance! Students are often thrilled at the opportunity to practice this newfound freedom. Some students will also see this as an opportunity to host parties, but that can come at a cost. Local Spokane Police Department officers work with our Campus Security and Public Safety department on weekend evenings to help keep our community safe and non-disruptive to the many neighbors, businesses, and schools that are nearby. In some cases, SPD officers have been issuing warnings, in addition to criminal citations, for social gatherings that get out of hand or aren’t following local laws. Student hosts often don’t anticipate what can go wrong when word gets out and too many people show up to a casual gathering, not to mention what could happen if they are held liable for an alcohol emergency that occurs on the premises. Encourage your student, if they are 21 and plan to host get-togethers with friends, to plan ahead. The Office of Community Standards offers Good Neighbor Workshops where they can learn about safer party planning if they need a little help. Beyond that, junior year is often the peak for both academic stress and campus involvement, so encourage your student to focus on the positive aspects of their year.
For Seniors:
It’s too soon to start stressing about post-graduation, but not too soon for your student to start thinking critically about how their social life this year vs. next year might differ. As more students start turning 21, drinking in Spokane can take on new meaning. Encourage your student to continually evaluate their friendships and their choices about drinking. How are they spending their time and making memories this last year at GU? Have they considered setting a budget for alcohol? And do they always have a plan for getting home safe? We sometimes hear students say that how they consume in college isn’t how they plan to drink after college, but unless they’ve practiced responsible drinking, that may be easier said than done. We’re unable to predict which students may go on to struggle with making changes to their drinking after college, so if they express any concern, it’s helpful to get them thinking ahead and connected to resources, if needed.
Halloween also brings additional risk for any student who makes the choice to drink. Costumes and decorations can be part of the fun, but they also mean a big change in scenery. The term situational tolerance describes what happens when someone who always uses in the same way, finds themselves in a different environment or under different circumstances. For example, if someone has two beers at their house with their roommates on Friday and Saturday nights, they get accustomed to how that feels. If they decide to dress up for Halloween, go somewhere new, drink around different people and consume hard alcohol, that’s going to be a very different feeling. Any big changes will put students at greater risk for feeling the effects of alcohol, more than usual.
For additional tips and tricks, please take a moment to read the article found here with more about talking to your student and encouraging them to enjoy the holiday safely.
Thank you for your continued vigilance in helping us cultivate a healthy campus environment where your student can thrive and succeed. We often talk with our students about the idea of “Zags Help Zags”, a saying that highlights the importance of care and concern for one another in our community. This care and concern is always rooted in the positive, in noticing when someone might not be acting like normal and checking in; in seeing when someone seems uncomfortable with attention from another and helping create a distraction to allow that person an exit strategy; in helping students know that if they are worried about something they are observing, they can always reach out for help to friends and others in the Gonzaga community, such as Campus Security and Public Safety. Ask your student what their most recent “Zags Help Zags” moment has been, and help them consider how they can be an active bystander and help someone else during this upcoming Halloween season.