As protests roil U.S. campuses, parents need to step up and talk with their kids about the consequences of misbehavior.

By Naomi Schaefer Riley

Hey parents, it’s time to have a talk with your kids. No, not that talk. And not that one, either.

This is the talk that parents of college students need to have when their kids come home from school this spring. Or, ideally, even before then.

Now that colleges and universities have finally begun to push back against the violence and chaos that has erupted on their campuses since the attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, it is time for parents to wake up and warn their kids that there might be serious and long-term consequences for their misbehavior.

The trend began quietly a couple of weeks ago when Vanderbilt decided to suspend more than two dozen demonstrators who occupied the president’s office. The students assaulted a security guard and shattered a window. Three of the demonstrators were also expelled. Then, this week, Columbia University began dismantling a pro-Palestinian encampment from the center of its campus. At least 100 students were arrested by the New York City Police Department, and many of those students were suspended. In-person classes were canceled on Monday.

The university’s president, Minouche Shafik, recently grilled about antisemitism on campus by members of Congress, explained that she had given the protesters a lot of chances to move on their own. She testified:

“The individuals who established the encampment violated a long list of rules and policies. … The university provided multiple notices of these violations … notifying students who remained in the encampment as of 9 p.m. that they would face suspension pending investigation. We also tried through a number of channels to engage with their concerns and offered to continue discussions if they agreed to disperse.”

Protesters have been arrested at Brown University and Haverford College, and the University of Michigan says it is in the process of writing some new rules around speech and protest. According to the draft that has been released, “No Person without legal authority may prevent or impede the free flow of persons about campus...

https://www.deseret.com/opinion/2024/04/22/the-talk-that-parents-need-to-have-with-their-college-students-right-now/