Shaming college students over COVID-19 outbreaks and employing zero-tolerance policies may be making the situation worse. experts say.
Shaming and blaming make students less likely to work with contact tracers and less open about symptoms they may have, said Marcus, who researches HIV prevention.
Colleges need to take harm-reduction approaches instead of imposing abstinence-only-type policies, teaching students how to safely socialize with friends, many of whom they haven't seen in months. They should encourage outdoor gatherings, such as parties on porches with social distancing and masks or beer pong outside fraternities. That approach recognizes that students are going to socialize, and it focuses on making gatherings safer, rather than ban them outright.
The college's advice has largely been"you can't see anyone," rather than guidance about how to see people safely or establish social bubbles. Instead of physically distanced outdoor tailgates or football games, students have largely turned toward house parties and bars. For Howard, the"lack of any sort of social aspect at all for us" has been most frustrating.
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