Helping Students Take Responsibility for Their Space
The truth is that the college campus is now your student’s home away from home. It’s important that your student recognize her role in respecting this environment. This means being accountable for her behaviors and treating the facilities with care.
Of course, there’s another part of taking responsibility: holding others accountable for their actions. This is really difficult for some students to do. Unfortunately, it only takes one to ruin it for everyone —and generally, this one individual’s destructive behaviors can impact a number of others.
Remind your student that she’s a member of a team in making sure that the campus environment stays safe, positive, clean and, most importantly, a place she can be proud of. If she becomes aware of someone who is contributing negatively to the campus environment, it is her responsibility to do something about it. Not doing so actually contributes to the problematic behavior.
If your student is confronted with a decision about holding herself—or someone else—accountable for destructive behaviors, encourage her to:
- Talk to the student who is demonstrating the behaviors and encourage him to stop or turn himself in to the appropriate folks.
- Talk to her resident assistant or another student leader.
- Take initiative by scheduling a meeting with the appropriate professional on campus, rather than waiting to be called in.
- When necessary, report the behaviors to campus security or public safety.
Everyone has a role in maintaining a positive campus community. It’s yet another arena where helping your student learn self-responsibility can give her skills for a lifetime.