Party til Your Sick

College students are known for pranks. Swallowing goldfish. Panty raids. Mascot stealing before the big game. All silly fluff. A dark side exists to the college social life too; hazing, date violence, drinking and drugs. But a story from Alabama attests to just what stupidity they are capable of.

 Students in Alabama stage Covid 19 parties. The hosts invite Coronavirus-positive guests, and everyone else tries to catch the disease. The first reported case of infection stemming from the party collects a pot, like a card game. According to the Tuscaloosa News, students reacted with elation or disappointment depending on their results. The happy ones were the first from their party to test positive, having met the criteria for being prize winners.  At least eight people tested positive.

Perhaps these young people need a restorative justice session or two. Raise their self-esteem. Accept a promise of never doing it again. All will be well in the land of the Covidians. On the other hand, maybe they need a trip to the proverbial woodshed. Some time out in the dean’s office. A semester of remote learning from the room in which they grew up—however stunted that growth might have been.

Political correctness has driven consequences for poor or illegal behavior into exile.  These young people would have grown up in the era of non-consequential adjudication of student violations of school discipline codes. They violate mandatory mask rules for which the perpetrators can be liable. The Green B Letter’s politically incorrect, non-circle sitting, no-therapy session, no kumbayah-singing sentence handed down to these poster children for “Why Not Everyone Belongs in College”.

--Academic probation for the rest of the individual’s college years. Immediate ban on or expulsion from fraternities, sororities, or any other social or recreational participation unless authorized by the appropriate university official, in writing and signed, with whatever conditions imposed for the event.

--Once quarantine ends, 100 hours of community service to help in the fight against Coronavirus by helping first responders, patients in facilities, or in any other way deemed appropriate by the medical or facility manager.

TGBL believes these measures will sensitize the guilty to just what the term life and death means. The punishment will illuminate the unfair pressure put on the heroes working to save lives. The cathartic moment will happen. The face-in-the-mirror would reflect back to them images of not only stupidity, but the joke they made of suffering, the self-elevation to the realms best left to science and the divine. They will see how their whimsy only made the lives of doctors and nurses and staffers harder, sadder as they race time and medicine to save patients’ lives. Only the Grim Reaper took joy in their dance. TGBL hopes the folly limited the number of serious cases and lives lost. Not to mention the long term damage this disease can inflict.

Two Green B stingers for a most selfish, arrogant and dangerous affront to public health. Add one more for College Kids Gone Stupid. Your lesson to be learned, long overdue: Actions do have consequences.

College students are known for pranks. Swallowing goldfish. Panty raids. Mascot stealing before the big game. All silly fluff. A dark side exists to the college social life too: hazing, date violence, drinking and drugs. But a story from Alabama attests to just what irresponsibility they are capable of.

 Students in Alabama staged Covid 19 parties. The hosts invite Coronavirus-positive guests, and everyone else tries to catch the disease. The first reported case of infection stemming from the party collects a pot, like a card game. According to the Tuscaloosa News, students reacted with elation or disappointment depending on their results. The happy ones were the first from their party to test positive, having met the criteria for being prize winners.  At least eight people contracted it.

Perhaps these young people need a restorative justice session or two. Raise their self-esteem. Let’s accept a promise of never doing it again. All will be well in the land of the Covidians. On the other hand, maybe they need a trip to the proverbial woodshed. Some time out in the dean’s office. A semester of remote learning from the room in which they grew up—however stunted that growth might have been.

Political correctness has driven consequences for poor or illegal behavior into exile.  These young people would have grown up in the era of non-consequential adjudication of student violations of school discipline codes. They violate mandatory mask rules for which the perpetrators can be liable. The Green B Letter’s politically incorrect, non-circle sitting, no-therapy session, no kumbayah-singing sentence is now handed down to these poster children for “Why Not Everyone Belongs in College”.

--Academic probation for the rest of their college years. Immediate ban on or expulsion from fraternities, sororities, or any other social or recreational participation unless authorized by the appropriate university official, in writing and signed, with whatever conditions imposed for the event.

--Once quarantine ends, 100 hours of community service to help in the fight against Coronavirus by aassisting first responders, patients in facilities, or in any other way deemed appropriate by the medical or facility manager.

TGBL believes these measures will sensitize the guilty to just what the term “life and death” means. The service will illuminate the unfair pressure put on the heroes working to save lives. The cathartic moment will happen. The face-in-the-mirror would reflect back to them images of not only stupidity, but the joke they made of suffering, the self-elevation to the realms best left to science and the divine. They will see how their whimsy only made the lives of doctors and nurses and staffers harder, sadder as they race time and medicine to save patients’ lives. Only the Grim Reaper took joy in their dance. TGBL hopes the folly was limited to those eight and no severe serious cases or lives lost resulted. We also hope no one will be subjected to the long term damage this disease can inflict.

The final judgment will be the ignominy of two Green B stingers for a most selfish, arrogant and dangerous affront to public health and a third one for “College Kids Gone Stupid”. Your lesson to be learned young ones, long overdue: Actions do have consequences.