Handling the Social Life on Campus
Along with the freedom to decide how to spend their time each day, new students are faced with the serious choice of whether to participate in the party scene and social life that is a part of the college culture at every university.

Finding balance
Most students arrive at Iowa with some curiosity about what the social life is like on campus and in Iowa City, and they want to meet new people and experience the social scene on their own terms, now that they have more control over how they spend their time.

• There is a focused effort on the part of the University to address the issues surrounding students’ use of alcohol.
• The Office of Student Services' Campus and Community Relations has spearheaded efforts to educate the University community about alcohol use and abuse, and funds educational and social programming on campus (AlcoholEdu is one example) aimed at reducing the number of students who abuse alcohol. 

Making good choices
While there is a great deal of time and energy spent providing students with a variety of alcohol-free activities and events from which to choose, there are students who make the decision to drink rather than seek out these activities on campus.

• The bottom line is that the responsibility for decision making (whether it is to skip class or attend lecture, study hard or put it off until later, or drink on the weekends rather than attend alcohol-free events) rests with the individual student.

Some students find it difficult to make mature decisions when there are so many fun things to do, and they spend too much time socializing (whether it involves alcohol or not), only to find that their grades suffer as a result.

Advice for parents
Here are some things you can do to help:

• Have an open, honest conversation about drinking and/or drug use, even if your student does not drink.

• Discuss what you value, while allowing your student to talk about prior experiences with alcohol and/or drugs, and what his or her expectations are for college. 

• Be a good listener, one who is both supportive and nonjudgmental, despite what you might discover about your student’s behavior. If you keep the lines of communication open, you’ll hear more about what is going on in the future. 

• Keep the lecturing on alcohol use and misuse to a minimum because it will only put your student on the defensive.

• Talking at students is not as effective as talking with them, and showing that you respect and trust their ability to make good decisions. 

• It can be more productive to focus the conversation on how to drink “smartly” and responsibly if your student is going to make the decision to drink, and on creating a set of safety rules for going to parties or out at night, whether your student drinks or not.

The most successful students are those who learn to balance their academic, social, and personal lives.