Welcome

Hello Parents and Guardians:

This section contains information useful in discussing alcohol with your student, understanding UI policies and helping your student have a successful UI experience. You can also check out The Truth about Alcohol at The University of Iowa web site. More resources are available through internet searches, your libraries, and local information centers.

If you have looked over the rest of our site, then you probably know a lot of what we do and about our goals. If you haven't, please do so before you leave.

We want to educate the community, parents, and students. This section contains information useful in discussing alcohol with your student, understanding UI policies and helping your student have a successful UI experience. More resources are available through internet searches, your libraries, and local information centers.

While your student is away from home, you should talk with them about alcohol. Let them know you are available to talk and listen. It can do more than shape a life - it can save a life. College Parents of America has developed eight points to assist parents with discussing alcohol issues with their students. They are listed here, along with tips for how and when to begin this important conversation.

  1. Set clear and realistic expectations regarding your student's academic performance. Research studies indicate that partying may contribute as much to a student's decline in grades as difficulty with academic work.
  2. Stress to your student that alcohol is toxic, and excessive consumption can fatally poison, as the family of one freshman learned at the University of Iowa in 1995. Discourage dangerous drinking that can happen through participation in drinking games, fraternity hazing, or in other similar activities.
  3. Tell your student to intervene when friends are in trouble with alcohol. They might just save a life doing so.
  4. Tell your student to stand up for his or her right to a safe campus environment. Students who do not drink can be affected by the behavior of those who do. Students should discuss problems with the offender, or the residence hall monitor (RA).
  5. Understand the alcohol scene on campus and talk to your student about it. Students grossly exaggerate their peers' use of alcohol. They tend to drink up to what they perceive to be the norm.
  6. Avoid telling tales of drinking exploits from your own college years. Entertaining students with stories of drinking back in "the god old days" normalizes what, even then, was abnormal behavior.
  7. Encourage your student to volunteer in the community. Volunteerism not only structures free time but also provides students with ways to develop job-related skills and gain valuable experience.
  8. Make it clear that underage alcohol consumption and alcohol-impaired driving are against the law. And, if you drink, you should be a positive role model in the responsible use of alcohol.

It's a conversation you need to have with your student.

Please visit http://www.collegeparents.org for more information.