Systemic Injustice – Underage Drinking

For my systemic injustices showcase I want to cover a type of systemic injustice that college students face when it comes to underage drinking. The reason that I want to dive into this situation more than I already have on my original post is because there is so much more to be discussed.

When it comes to underage drinking at universities, it is inevitably going to happen to some degree due to the synonymous relation that alcohol has to college party atmospheres. While it is not always the case that every student will engage in this behavior, most will be presented with the opportunity to drink at some point. And depending on how large the university is, the more likely that students will find themselves having to make this situation.

While universities, including OSU, have a clear policy regarding underage drinking they only limit its influence on students in certain scenarios. For example, drinking is pretty well controlled in campus dorms at OSU because of RA’s and building managers who take the situation seriously. When it comes to students getting caught with alcohol in on-campus dorms, the university already has a policy in place that allows students to make the mistake once or twice and only get a slap on the wrist. Usually this allows students to find out the seriousness of the situation without getting into serious trouble as a result. However, underage drinking becomes a problem for college students when they engage in this at an off-campus setting, such as a bar. In these locations, the university is no longer responsible for the student, but rather the local law enforcement. The only problem is that law enforcement treats underage drinking with more serious punishments. Students can be arrested and find themselves having to spend several days in jail because most underage drinking arrests happen on the weekend and county arraignments for cases usually only occur on weekdays. Beyond this, students will likely have to go through a court trial which can give them a criminal record, depending on if they are found guilty, and what the court decides to issue as punishment. Therefore, a criminal record can affect a student’s ability to stay in college because universities are not super tolerant to students with criminal records. While it is not expressly the universities legal obligation to stop students from engaging in off-campus drinking, they should be held responsible to some degree. Universities need to better educate their students so that they can truly understand that underage drinking can have serious, debilitating consequences. And they need to do this so that students do not have to find out the hard way.

Here is a reference from a law firm that shows serious penalties for using fake ID’s in Ohio. https://www.patitucelaw.com/blog/2017/december/what-you-need-to-know-about-ohio-fake-id-laws/

It is also worth noting that university relations with law enforcement need to be better. Universities need to delegate with law enforcement so that they can work together to try and limit the problem without punishing students who may not know better. It may also be better if universities can offer more legal resources to students so that they can know their local laws. Afterall, local laws can vary between states, cities, and even countries. Therefore, this could suggest that international students and out of state students may find themselves even more in trouble because they may not know the laws of the region as well as regional students.

Here is Ohio State’s official policies for underage drinking relating to off-campus and on-campus locations.https://studentlife.osu.edu/documents/policy-final-alcohol-and-other-drugs-20210719.pdf

Due to this systemic injustice, both universities and law enforcement agencies can other the same students that they are legally required to serve. Law enforcement agencies, especially, have tendencies to form “us against them” mindsets when it comes to enforcing laws. This type of mentality is dangerous because it effectively puts students into other status since the people who are supposed to be protecting them are actually preying on them and simply waiting for them to make a wrong move. This can be seen through the use of undercover agents. All in all, universities need to understand that their students are vulnerable and naïve. Instead of othering them, they need to better protect them.