Arrested in College
When parents send their children off to college, many do not realize the potential legal difficulties some of their young adult offspring may face if they wind up arrested at college. While making the decision to move away from home to live either on-campus or closer to their college, students may throw caution to the wind and forget that they must now independently be responsible for all behavior.
The college years are filled with great expectations as well as new-found freedom at every turn. When this lack of supervision gives way to criminal behavior, young adults find themselves asking parents to bail them out. If a student finds themselves arrested at college, serious problems will arise. A lot can be done with an effective criminal defense lawyer. However, it helps to understand how trouble can begin in the first place.
Most legal issues involving college students stem from underage alcohol and/or drug use. The ease in which some students acquire both is ominous. Legal trouble typically follows underage drinking and drug use such as public intoxication, driving while intoxicated, and drug possession are all situations in which a student can get arrested at college.
When Acting Silly is Illegal
Along with certain illegal activity such as public intoxication comes inappropriate behavior that would, under sober circumstances, never occur. For example, students arrested at college are often caught off guard when they find themselves incarcerated for indecent exposure for urinating out in public. Male students are guilty of this act far more often than female students. These types of illegal activity can potentially wreak havoc on an offending student’s future.
One of the difficulties students tend to have, especially during their freshman year, is the sudden self-responsibility and liberty that is gained. For some young adults, this type of personal responsibility is too much to handle right out of high school. The differences in maturity levels for one student who is 18 years old may be far less than another of the same age.
Tragedy Waiting to Happen – DUI’s
Young adults have a tendency to ignore or not consider the consequences of getting arrested in college. There have been cases in which a student makes a decision to drive while intoxicated and inadvertently causes a debilitating accident that cost someone their life. While unfortunate, this type of illegal behavior could be avoided by not engaging in the activity in the first place.
How Being Arrested in College can Effect Your Future
Being arrested in college for something as simple as trespassing on private property does not appear to be a serious offense initially. However, for the individual involved, this small crime may have dangerous consequences if the owner of such a property takes trespassing as a serious invasion of property and safety. Each year, critical injury or death occurs due to someone defending his/her property from criminals. Either outcome is not desired by any participant on either side of the law.
The important lesson to have young adults take with them to college should be one of caution, self-responsibility and respectable behavior. Getting arrested in college may interfere with future goals and employment due to a criminal record. Thinking before impulsively acting can save a student from the legal woes during college years.
For those who have been arrested in college, very special precautions have to be made. It pays to invest in a defense that gets this client stand out from the crowd. Good grades is not a defense. Because the consequences are so much more costly for a young student that is on their way to prominence, no issue or matter in a criminal court should be taken lightly. You should always consider contacting an attorney for guidance.
