MARCH

What’s Going On this Month Alcohol Abuse - What to Do - What to Avoid Finding a Place to Live Responsive Programming Activities in Residence

What’s Going On this Month:

March is a month that brings some anxieties about the end of the school year, exams, residence offers for next year and preparations for summer employment. There is also some excitement about the accomplishment of completing the first year at university. Students are getting stressed about finishing their assignments this month and may also be feeling depressed about leaving their friends and residence life once the year is over.

Some additional challenges faced by students this month include:

• increased drug and alcohol use
• academic pressures; papers are due and exams are fast-approaching
• stress of choosing an academic program for September
• an increase in residence damages
• frustration and confusion develop around decisions of summer course registration
• Graduating students are generally asking themselves “Must I leave school? Is my education worth anything? Was my major a mistake? Am I going to be able to find a job?”
• thefts in residence increase
• stress of leaving residence and finding a place to live off-campus

Finding a Place to Live:

If your student hasn’t already started looking for somewhere to live for next year, now is the time for him/her to start. There are many options to consider when selecting accommodations. Encourage your son or daughter to be sure to visit the place they might live and see what it looks like before signing a lease. Students hastily signing leases without considering their longer-term needs can cause serious problems. Encourage your child to visit Western’s Off-Campus Housing Office for information on how to find a place to live in London, important issues to consider before signing a lease and their rights and obligations as a tenant.

Upper-year Residence Applications

Alcohol Abuse:

Underage drinking and alcohol abuse is an enormous problem on most university campuses. If you’ve read a newspaper or magazine lately, you probably have seen articles on binge drinking and how universities are trying to limit/prevent alcohol abuse... Universities are faced with two unattractive alternatives: One, to clamp down on underage drinking on campus, thereby forcing students to drive to remote drinking locations; or two, to turn the other way and ignore illegal and dangerous drinking behaviour on campus.
(For more information, please see Western’s Campus Alcohol Policy.)

What to Do :

• If you think your son has a drinking problem, confront him about it. Let him know that you take this seriously and that you are concerned.
• Allow him to experience the consequences of his behaviour.
• Ask your child if he needs help.
• Suggest that he find a counsellor and/or attend an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.
• Let him know you love him and will support him in getting the help he needs.
• Model responsible drinking behaviour. If you abuse alcohol or condone its abuse, it’s likely that your child will too.

What to Avoid :

• Blaming, threatening and punishing him.
• Ignoring his destructive drinking behaviour.
• Assuming that this is just a phase that all university students go through.

Responsive Programming Activities in Residence:

• Alcohol awareness workshops are offered.
• Emphasis on offering non-alcoholic or “dry” event programming continues.
• Stress and academic kits are made available.
• Final floor dinners are organized.
• Social floor activities are organized and encourage residents to continue regarding the residence as “home” (this will also reduce damage levels).
• Academic programmers conduct exam study sessions and may also refer students to Learning Skills Services for exam preparation strategies.
• Floor yearbooks or residence clothing is sold.
• Coffee House is organized.
• Residents are encouraged to start taking items with them on trips back home to make move-out day easier.

	Please note that all italicized text throughout this site has been reprinted by permission from St. Martin’s Press. This book can be purchased through Western’s eBookstore. Just click on the book cover to order.
	Copyright © 2000 by Helen E. Johnson and Christine Schelhas-Miller From: Don't Tell Me What To Do, Just Send Money by Helen E. Johnson and Christine Schelhas-Miller. Reprinted by permission of St. Martin's Press, LLC.

Print this page