College is deemed the quintessential time for experimentation.

But some students are taking it too far.

Four students died this past school year – three of which were drug and alcohol related fatalities. The fourth and most recent is still undetermined as of publication.

This isn’t normal.

It doesn’t happen on every private school campus, and that shouldn’t be an excuse to let it happen anyway.

The culture of the SMU student body does not encourage nor deter drug and alcohol abuse – students simply accept it.

If you are not okay with drug use among your peers, then you are considered “square.” Therefore, students who don’t want to partake in self-destructive behavior learn how to avoid the drug scene.

But they choose not to do anything about it.

It’s one thing to experiment with weed or do a little underage drinking. But it is an entirely different thing to watch your friends snort cocaine and drink themselves stupid. It doesn’t make you any cooler and it certainly does nothing for your social skills. It’s not as if you need those things in order to have fun – there are plenty of fun things you can do that don’t involve abusing prescription or illegal drugs and alcohol.

College campuses, SMU included, will never be drug free.

We all know this.

Schools can only create so many groups and posters warning students about the dangers of drugs and alcohol. All SMU students are in part to blame for allowing the culture of passive acceptance to go on for this long. We have no one to blame but ourselves. At the age of 18, young adults become responsible for their actions – so start making smarter choices.

It’s time for students to start taking care of themselves and their friends. Positive changes need to come from the student body. Look out for one another and stop accepting the so-called social norms.

None of the three drugs- and alcohol-related deaths had anything to do with a specific social network. It wasn’t solely a Greek thing, a non-Greek thing or an athlete thing. Each one of the students who died socialized among different groups.

This problem is campus-wide.

Freshmen,or first-year’s as SMU likes to say, can be part of the answer. They can step up and set a better example for future SMU classes. Freshmen, don’t give into the drug and alcohol scenes. It isn’t that cool. Three student deaths should speak volumes about how un-cool they really are.

Our message to all students is this: stop accepting it.

Stand up and do something about it for crying out loud!

Freshmen – be the refreshing change this campus desperately needs for the 2007-2008 school year.