Another Tragedy

Another college student has died after a night of drinking- this time up in the Cities at Hamline University. Of course, the Star Tribune leads with the juicy bit of information that it's not just a college student but 'a Mankato college student' which I find somewhat objectionable. Yes, Mankato seems to have had a run of bad luck when it comes to college kids and alcohol over the past year, but the implication seems to be that 'them there kids down in Mankato are just plain out of control.' Which some of them undoubtedly are, but some of them are OK.

The Free Press has the article too, but there's no reaction from college or community leaders as of yet- I'm sure its coming. Mankato tends to flail a bit after tragedies such as these and pontifications from college and city leaders are undoubtedly coming. Along with another useless ordinance aimed at curbing binge drinking (though I noticed that banning cup night specials didn't help any of the victims here in town. Nor did a social host ordinance.)

Legislating to 'prevent' tragedies like these isn't going to help. Really and truly- laws can be there and community leaders and politicians can try and look like their doing something, but the true solution to this problem comes from parents tackling it at home- and even that isn't a sure fire solution. Kids are gonna be dumb- it's a fact of life, and sometimes the foolishness of youth can lead to outright tragedies- I doubt if its a problem that will ever fully go away, but I'm tired of politicians passing laws willy nilly without stating the obvious: responsible drinking habits start at home. Parents should either be an example for their children or tightly control their exposure to alcohol to help teach them limits. It didn't take much to convince me that drinking a shitload was a bad idea- but I still did it knowing full well that I'd pay the price for it the next morning.

It's a difficult problem with no easy solution, but our leaders on all levels should be better at handling it than they are. (Along with many other things.)