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CNN Live At Daybreak

Students, Sex and Drugs

Aired August 31, 2001 - 08:19   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Now, for what students and their parents need to know about sex, drugs and flunking out, we're going to turn to Joel Epstein, author of a book with exactly that title. He joins us from New York this morning.

Good morning, Joel.

JOEL EPSTEIN, AUTHOR: Good morning.

LIN: All right. The subtitle to that is: answers to the questions your college student doesn't want you to ask.

What are some of those questions?

EPSTEIN: Well, first, I want to say that the book is really a very general college guide for all sorts of parents and all sorts of students. It's the kind of book that you're going to want to get early in high school actually, and that you're going to want to use almost as a bible all the way through and well into the first couple of years of college.

It's certainly got a great deal about drugs, about sexual activity, about college drinking, but it's also got a great deal of information about academic preparedness, about money matters, about paying for college. And I think it's, again, a very good general guide for college parents.

LIN: All right, Joel -- a great pitch for the book, but let's get down and dirty here. You are very specific in this guideline. For example, when you talk about parents being pro-active -- for example, when a roommate problem comes up, you're pretty graphic here. You say parents should intervene in roommate conflicts. And then, you talk about the serious issues of say a roommate threatening another roommate with a gun -- a gun violation.

EPSTEIN: Yes, well...

LIN: Is that the kind of portrait that you're seeing kids going into college facing?

EPSTEIN: I think the more common problems that roommates encounter are roommates who may be having a boyfriend or a girlfriend over rather frequently. I have heard stories about college kids who have to endure their roommate and a girlfriend or a boyfriend sitting around watching pornographic movies all of the time. That's very difficult on a student.

Similarly, drug uses, pressures of that sort are very difficult for a student.

LIN: We're going...

EPSTEIN: And I think parents should intervene if their student appears to be having a hard time with mental health concerns, with academic issues and very much with roommate issues.

LIN: We're going to get into exactly how they should intervene with their kids in just a moment. But let's talk about drugs: GHB, ecstasy, marijuana, booze.

What are the dangers on campus? What's the drug of choice these days?

EPSTEIN: Well, again, and really for a very long time, the drug of choice has been alcohol. It continues to be. It's practically free in many college communities. And I'm certainly not a prohibitionist. I really do believe that alcohol is a part of the culture -- a part of the society. But I do think that parents should be very concerned. I think that parents should try to help their kids avoid schools where the norm is high-risk drinking -- heavy, heavy drinking

(CROSSTALK)

LIN: But how can you tell unless you go on campus yourself and check out the parties?

EPSTEIN: Well, that's exactly what I recommend in the book -- that parents set aside some time and visit the campus with their son or daughter while school is in session -- very important. It's a nice opportunity for you to get to know or get reacquainted with your child who may have been quite distance from you for the last few years.

LIN: But listen, you're asking parents to do that at a time in a child's life where it's all about finding your ultimate independence and living on your own and making your own mistakes. I mean, you're recommending that not only parents visit the campus, but they actually attend some of the initial classes, that they read the student newspaper. It's almost as if you're asking parents to check out a day care center for a child who can't help himself.

EPSTEIN: I -- no, not really. I think what I'm really saying is that parents should be involved with their children in this very important life decision. It's the largest investment that most students and their parents will ever make outside of purchasing a house. I think you should be as best and as informed a consumer as you can about all of these issues. And I really think...

LIN: So how do you make it a welcoming experience then between parent and child? If the kid is saying, look, I don't want you there. This is embarrassing. How do parents build that bridge then? EPSTEIN: I think that parents should take a back seat during the college tour, but they should challenge their student with hard questions about individual responsibility and wise choices that the students are going to be making.

Again, it's a very difficult time for many students. And I think parents who are candid with their kids about the fact that if they're partying all of the time, they're going to have a hard time making the grade academically. We're in a tough economic environment. I think parents that are speaking with their kids while in high school and junior high school and who continue that dialog via e-mail and frequent -- or perhaps some visits and phone conversations are going to serve themselves and serve the parent-child relationship very well.

LIN: All right.

EPSTEIN: And most of all, I'm an advocate of individual responsibility -- teaching students to really take responsibility for their actions in a responsible way.

LIN: And never underestimate what you're getting into. One of the tips you say is never take a drink that you didn't pour yourself, so you know what you're getting into at a party. You control your circumstances. Good tips.

(CROSSTALK)

EPSTEIN: Yes.

LIN: Good tips. Thanks so much, Joel Epstein, author of a really useful guide for parents -- Vince.

EPSTEIN: Thanks very much -- thanks for having me on.

VINCE CELLINI, CNN ANCHOR: And thank you.

And we want to remind you of "It's Your turn." This is your chance to give us some questions regarding temptations on campus -- what parents don't know what they might like to know. And we'll talk about those e-mails coming up a little bit later. There's the address. Please include your name and your hometown.

Well, you know, college is a time to meet new people, experiment with new things, but that doesn't always happen on college campuses. In fact, students may cluster together with people of their own ethnic background or people of their own gender.

And we want to talk about self-segregation on campuses. And to do that, we have assembled a forum in Athens, Georgia at the University of Georgia and some students there to discuss this matter of self-segregation, including senior Porsha Grant -- who is a member of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority -- also Ally Harper of the Panhellenic Council -- she represents the Greek system -- Wil Loftis -- he is a junior there -- and Tunde Ezekiel -- who is the president of the Student Government Association. Thank you all. This is an open forum. We want to get a discussion going, and I'll just throw this out. We sent our crews down to Athens, Georgia, and we saw some video of students eating together -- students of very similar backgrounds and interests eating together, spending time together.

Does self-segregation exist at Georgia?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

CELLINI: How so?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: More so.

(CROSSTALK)

TUNDE EZEKIEL, UNIV. OF GA. STUDENT GOVT. ASSN.: I think when students get here, it's natural for them to blend with those that are of their same culture. I think we do it subconsciously and are afraid to step outside of our comfort zone, so we try to be with people who look like us and who are like us.

CELLINI: Is that such a bad thing at times if you continue to socialize with people in other areas/

WIL LOFTIS, JUNIOR, UNIV. OF GEORGIA: You can't -- it's not really bad, per se. I mean, you know, everyone can get by with a mutual respect for one another by, you know, associating with people that are more like yourself. But you're not going to learn or experience the kind of things that you can get from a more diverse cultural experience, because there are a lot of them -- you know, despite the fact that there is a small minority of students from other cultural background besides standard Caucasian American, there are a lot of different cultural backgrounds on the campus, and you will miss it, you know, if you don't branch out.

CELLINI: OK. Now I'm going to mention the "R" word, and that's racism. And I'll throw this out to anyone of the four.

Does racism exist there, and can anyone cite examples if so -- if you believe that to be true?

PORSHA GRANT, SENIOR, UNIV. OF GEORGIA: I think that racism does exist on the campus today, although in a different form than it used to be. I think that people still hold the same ideas. They just manifest themselves in different ways -- like people aren't forward with their ideas anymore. They will keep them within their small circle of friends. But the ideas exist. It's just that people aren't so forward with them anymore.

CELLINI: Well, here we have it: young people on campus trying to expand their minds and try to meet new -- see different things. And self-segregation exists there.

How can we take care of those problems in the real world when some educated people and some people that are there to be enlightened are seeing this exists around them?

ALLY HARPER, UGA PANHELLENIC COUNCIL: I think that's a very hard question. I know just on a campus level, trying to increase communication between groups and facilitate greater understanding among them is how we have tried to attack it -- or I have tried to attack it on a campus-wide level. But I think on a world scale, it's a hard question.

(CROSSTALK)

LOFTIS: It will be awhile in the real world before we see the kind of changes that we're hoping for, I think. Because the people that are operating the real world now are still from an older generation. You know, the times of cultural oppression in the United States wasn't that long ago, you know. I mean, the 1960s was barely 40 years ago. And you will still see self-segregation in the office place, you know, in the work place. It's everywhere, but it will -- I think it's going to take time for a new generation to branch out and, you know, work with each other.

CELLINI: All right. Before we let you go, could we get a group hug maybe everyone?

(CROSSTALK)

CELLINI: There we go. That's the first step. We're just trying to do our part. Thanks a lot guys -- we appreciate your input.

(CROSSTALK)

CELLINI: ... of the University of Georgia -- trying to make the world a better place.

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