STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — When Bridget Winch went to parties at Kappa Delta Rho, she observed one rule: Never go upstairs.
That merits a feature article in the Washington Post? She’s the only woman who’s figured that out? If I had a daughter, I’d like to think she’d have at least that much sense, maybe a little more.
Here’s another idea: go upstairs and blame whatever happens on the fraternity, the fraternity system and our entire American society.
Or if nothing happens, make something up.
Then, there was no “upstairs” to Clinton’s Oval Office. Rather the rule should be to avoid isolation. It’s why college professors keep their office doors open while talking to students.
Another problem is the absence of an honest and open ethics discussion. Mere nuts and bots knowledge acquired in a typical sex eduction isn’t enough to avoid future difficulties. Bogged down with their own problems, parents are often unwilling to explore the gray areas of behavior and morality.
There is also the fact that, when compared with previous generations, girls are becoming sexually active an an earlier age. These days, there can be at least a decade between first sexual experience and any serious consideration of fidelity.
Moving from the regimentation of parental control and secondary school supervision to the sudden adult-like freedom granted to college students these days can be an overwhelming experience. This is compounded by the fact that the frontal lobes of the brain that control behavior are not fully developed in college students.
Perhaps most tragically, girls have been trained to behave just like boys. On the other hand, for the most part, boys no longer have sisters. As a result, they tend to behave more like predators than protectors. When combined, much like the old joke about nitro and glycerine, the results can be disastrous.