Though it’s been a few decades for me, this was pretty much my recollection. Although most were much more direct - along the lines of “if it’s not in use, put it away” - which is what I did for the one bottle of Rum and my illicit hotpot, the only contraband I had at the time (and for what it’s worth, the Rum was purchased FOR me by my step-father who was much happier that I drink in dorm that go out somewhere else).
Personally, I think @Procrustus has it right - they are liable if it become clear that they saw such activity, so they have to take some action, and have it documented to CTA. The slow burn on the action with it being wiped relatively frequently as reported by the OP seems to support this.
Room checks during a fire drill to make sure everyone is out make sense. Human bodies tend to be relatively large & easy to spot in a room. Depending upon room configuration, one doesn’t even need to open the door all the way to ensure that it’s empty. This policy could delay a student from leaving to take time to hide their illegals. It also slows the RA/security personnel from getting out of the building if it were a real fire as they should only be looking for bodies, nothing on a desk or shelf. If the purpose of the room/body sweep is to make sure everyone is out of the building, it potentially puts at risk the kid at the end of the hall wearing headphones/passed out/having sex/finishing a paper due in ½ hour/whatever & not leaving as it takes longer to get to them.
It also potentially keeps the kids outside in inclement weather a bit longer until they 1) clear the building 2) identify the cause of the alarm & 3) reset it.
If they want to do dorm checks, do dorm checks but don’t do them as part of a fire drill. I bet the fire marshal wouldn’t be happy hearing about their policy.
The point is that they aren’t doing room checks for contraband. They’re checking the rooms to see if any people are hiding rather than going out for the fire drill. And then they may happen to see something. And, due to their job, they’re ethically bound to report it.
They wouldn’t be telling you to hide it if they actually cared about contraband. And they would put it in your dorm contract that they could actually search your room.
It’s also not that big of a burden. You just keep anything obvious hidden. It’s not like you scramble to hide everything before you leave. You know there is going to be a fire drill that day (or week, at least) and you can discard or hide whatever is in your hand as you get your keys and leave.
This seems likely to me. I seem to recall my college having a very “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy around drugs and alcohol, and I expect that that was largely driven by the real policy that they had to do something being driven by institutions they didn’t control, and the best they could do is just play dumb.
Police state, or nanny state? Possibly one and the same here.
Fair, I did ponder the possibilities of ‘nanny’ before posting. But the deception of a fire drill in conjunction with what would be an unwarranted search in real life struck me as dystopian enough to dismiss any illusions of ‘for your own good’. It strikes me that The Bust is the aim of the circus. Nanny would be hanging around in the halls & common areas and sending underage drunks/stoners to a rehab. Staff the rehab with psych majors and then the process gets educational again. How to do rehab & counseling, and how to not get caught. everyone wins.
I agree that there’s a very small chance that this policy could lead to excess deaths during a real fire, which is bad. But I think the chance is pretty small.
On the other hand, “Don’t leave your contraband in plain view” seems like a good lesson for everyone to learn (it would be nice if it weren’t, but that’s not the world we live in). Certainly I spent many hours in college acquiring much less useful knowledge.
I would have no problem with it. The college isn’t there to kick students out – what would the point of that be? I assume they have liability concerns and if they see something, they have to say something – hence telling the students ahead of time to hide their shit. That was essentially the same at my college, though we didn’t have fire drills. I highly doubt this is being used as a ruse to rifle through students stuff and I have no reason to believe they are actively searching when they say they aren’t. Once again … from the college’s perspective, what would the point of that be? (Unless maybe it was an actively moralistic institution of one kind or another, but the OP has clarified that it is not.)
To combine two current topics, how about building one of those glitter bomb packages for porch pirates, labeling it “Drugs”, and then leaving it out during a fire drill?
I assumed the fire drills were legit, and not just an excuse to search students’ rooms. If they were really being police-statey, they wouldn’t need an excuse to search.
A story I read a few years ago: In North Korea, CDs with Western music are forbidden. Every so often, the police will shut off the electricity to an entire apartment block, and while the power is out, they will visit every apartment. People who were listening to a CD of music cannot remove the CD from the player while the power is out. So when the police see a CD player, they will impound it and find out later if there’s a CD in it and what kind of music it is. Woe unto the North Korean citizen who was listening to the wrong stuff!
Can this be coming next at this school?
(nb: I have a CD player that you certainly can remove a CD from without power.)
If the policy is written this way, then I don’t have a problem with it. “We are sweeping the building to ensure compliance with the fire drill. We are also checking for fire hazards. We are not specifically looking for contraband, and we are certainly not calling the fire drill to enable a search for contraband. However, if in this sweep we happen to notice anything illicit, we are duty bound by safety and liability considerations to follow up on it.”
If that’s not the policy — if they are explicitly including a visual check for contraband in their fire safety sweep — then that’s not kosher, for the reasons already stated.
I appreciate all the opinions. As I said, this school isn’t particularly puritanical, there have definitely been on-campus parties with alcohol. I’m not really opposed to a “no drugs or alcohol in your room” rule, in the sense of good luck finding a college that doesn’t have that rule, but I’m pissed they use a fire drill as an excuse to check for contraband. Whether it’s designed that way or just an extra feature is meaningless - it still has the effect of making students go over their room before evacuating the building.
In a perverse manner, it provides your kid w/ a good teaching exercise on the value of privacy - as well as the exercise of “police” power. And the benefits of discretion.
For example, back when pot was illegal (or in states where it still is), you probably don’t want to keep your bong in plain view in your front window. And whether or not you have a bong/drugs out on your coffee table, you might wish to carefully consider whether - if a cop knows on your door - do you want to invite him/her in, or step outside and close your door behind you. Or do you consent to a search of your car following a traffic stop.
How does your kid feel about this? Is she eager to move out of the dorms?
No, as I said in the OP, this is my stepdaughter. I’ve brought up my concerns with her and my wife, they can take further steps if they wish.
She loves the school and her dorm. Her only problem with this situation is the possible guilt by association - apparently if her roommate hadn’t taken responsibility, they both would have gotten a point.
I’ve been involved with schools at all levels and roles most of my life, including working with and on similar policies. It’s highly probable that this policy arises from the dilemma that occurs when staff see something they must report during the course of performing a different duty. It’s the same underlying reason why my syllabi are required to point out that I’m mandated to report Title IX violations and a variety of other required disclosures and that the classroom is not a confidential setting. It’s not about a pretext for sweeping for contraband. Some schools do that as a separate activity; others leave it alone unless someone sees it and reports it or is required to report it.
When I’m working as a therapist in the community and see child abuse or neglect, I’m required to report it even though I wasn’t looking for it while I stand in line to buy toothpaste. When a student is rolling joints in the back of the classroom, I’m required to report it. If I give a talk in a residence hall and see beer bottles in a room as I walk through, I’m required to report it.
I remember that being the situation when I was in college, even without a fire drill dorm check. If booze or drugs were found in a dorm room, all occupants would get in trouble for it.
