EDITOR'S NOTE: During the next few weeks, Henry's World will be invaded by Tom Morgan and Peter Southworth's Introduction to Literature Classes. What follows are the results of a unit on Journalism.

These days, boarding schools, including Proctor Academy, often intervene in off-campus situations, in order to protect their reputations. This is understandable. However, in some cases interfering with a student’s off campus life can create additional problems. This is fair and just if a student is getting drunk or high in full Proctor attire. However, if there is no indication they are a Proctor student, there should be no problem if they are caught misbehaving off campus. Also, students are more likely to get in trouble at school if the school involves itself in their personal off campus business, because that can put the student in a double jeopardy of sorts. In addition, tracking down off campus indiscretions creates an unnecessary distraction to the community. Students attending Proctor Academy should not be disciplined at school if they get in trouble off campus, under the above circumstances.

A school’s reputation is important. It is logical for a school to involve themselves in a student’s behavior if it causes trouble off campus in their name. For example, going to a party, creating such a disturbance that the police get involved, and getting arrested while wearing a Proctor sweatshirt would severely harm the school’s reputation. However, if a student goes through the same situation without any Proctor clothing, or without mentioning Proctor Academy, the school should not feel the need to intervene, as its reputation is not at stake.

If a student’s off campus behavior is bad enough that Proctor feels the need to involve themselves, chances are the parents already have. Having the school punish a student a second time when they return to campus is unnecessary, in a sense. It throws the student into a double jeopardy situation, punishing them twice. Furthermore, if they believe that they will be punished either way, students may be more likely to cause more substance issues on campus; drinking, drugs, etc. The more problems that arise on campus would make it harder for Proctor to protect their reputation (for example, saying the student had drugs on campus). If Proctor discovers that there is a probability of a student drinking off campus, they may have to invest a bit more time than necessary tracking down this indiscretion. Doing so will create an unneeded distraction on campus that might cause even more problems than what already existed. For example, making a student paranoid. Needless to say, this action is compulsory if a students health is at risk, but if it is that serious it may take less time to prove than otherwise.

At Proctor a rule stands: if a student is caught doing anything unjust, resulting in a major on or off campus, the behavior is punishable. However, this rule is unjust focused on a situation, and unfair at times.

WILL CUDAHY is a freshman boarding student from Marion, MA. He lives in Summerfield Dorm.