Today on CNN Newsroom
The latest news and information from around the world. Also connect with CNN through social media. We want to hear from you.
September 29th, 2009
09:20 AM ET
Tufts Gets "Tough" on Dorm Room Sex
Tufts University is getting “tough” on dorm room sex. According to The Tufts Daily, the student newspaper, the university has banned “any sex act in a dorm room while one’s roommate is present.”
The Massachusetts school went on to say, "any sexual activity in the room should not interfere with a roommate's privacy, study habits, or sleep.” The office said the new policy stemmed from a significant number of complaints by students.
On Twitter
RT @CNN: The red flag law permits police to remove firearms from people who are considered a threat to themselves or others. @randikayeCNN…
We met a Sheriff in #NewMexico who won't use the state's red flag law on the books. Why not? Watch our story fortwitter.com/i/web/status/1…32
RT @CNN: Ginni Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, has emerged as a pivotal figure in the House select committee's inves…
RT @CNN: .@randikayeCNN reports on what’s left of an anti-abortion clinic in Upstate New York that was allegedly firebombed. https://t.co/p…
I completely agree with their policy. I'm a sophomore in college, and during my freshmen year my roommate ignored all rules about protecting others' privacy, study habits, and more importantly sleep. To put something like this in practice is theoretically admirable, however I'm sure it will be very difficult to enforce. I wish my university would have done something about it.
Why in the world would you want to have sex with someone else in the room? That is rude, just go somewhere else and do your business.
Sex education in collage sounds like fun it sounds like Steve Erkell type people cant mind there own bees wax.
It's a sad thing when an institution has to create a rule and punishment for something that is common courtesy. All students should be respectful of their roommates privacy and rights to a safe shelter. A dorm room is not the place for selfish individuals who put their needs above those they share a shelter with. Spend the bucks, and get an apartment or hotel room.
I agree it's rude to have sex while a roommate is in the dorm room. But apartments are not any better, and worse. No rules and the freedom to do what the kids want 24/7, parties, drinking and sex.
We had a family member who had this problem in their dorm room and moved out.
True that Jackie, I'm sophomore and I almost moved out of my campus apartment last year because my suitemates made it become a guest house (party every week, girlfriends sleeping here and doing stuff 3 to 4 nights a week, etc ...) That was really annoying and I'm glad I have all new suitmates now.
I completely agree. I'm now a sophomore at a university in Michigan. Last year my roommate would do this all of the time. I ended up having to sleep with my ipod playing. I think it is a tragedy that the young in our country are taking an act that should be private, romantic and cherished and turning it into a game.
OMG!! I had no idea this kind of stuff went on at college dorms!! Scary, my son will be in college in less than 2 yrs. I guess he'll be living at home. LOL
Kudos for the University! Sounds like they have a responsive program to address student issues!
Good for the schools about time someone hold them accountable! These kids are supposed to be going to school, not having sex orgies! For all you liberals information this is how the majority of sexual transmitted diseases occur right in the college dorm! Most of these kids are also on welfare of some sort and that means the tax payer is paying for these kids to have sex! I say to college students if you want to have sex fine, move back home and have your parents pay for your college and then have all the sex you want under their roof if they will allow it!
Sadly, I can believe this. I'm a grad student, and I have been teaching university freshmen for a couple of years.Colleges are continually having to implement more rules or programs to enforce or teach what should be common sense. We refuse to treat people under 18 like adults; we give them no responsibilities and treat them like fools. High schools teach kids to behave through the constant presence of an authority figure and the threat of punishment. Then when these kids turn 18 and go to college, a lot of them run wild. I don't mean to oversimplify, but there is a problem with the system we trust to raise our kids.
I completely disagree with this new rule. The fact is that the dorm rooms are the living spaces of these students, and as such should be treated with the same level of respect for privacy of these students as any other living space, ie an off campus apartment. Regulations in place such as not allowing candles or microwaves in the dorm rooms are soley for the saftey of other students in the building, however, this rule is nothing more than an invasion of privacy. If a student has an issue with his or her roomate's sexual activites in the dorm disrupting his or her studies, sleep, lifestyle, etc. they should try and figure it out themselves. If they cannot do that, the university has in place ways to switch rooms and to settle disputes without having to go so far as to invade the students privacy by regulating when and where they're sexual practices can take place.
Does the term get a room ring a bell?
What ever happened to hang a sock on the door? Making laws against sex in your home is crossing a line I think. This may be temporary housing but it is where they live.
Some of you are missing the point (DJ). Some people are just too arrogant, self centered, and selfish to even bother with others. This just shows the type of household they came from. It obviously shows a break down in parenting. It's sad this had to be a rule but it's justifiable.
-Common sense
-Courtesy
-Respect for others
It's amazing the uproar Americans make for trivial common sense matters and bicker over things like Health Care that's for their own good.
I'm of the conclusion that in America, if it's not written in law we act like it don't exist.
I understand that sex is a normal part of life for everyone but i also think that the students that are having sex should respect thier roomate.What happened to privacy i cant beleive they would want to have sex in the same room w another person there.
Good to have a rule which will be violated more often.
Year round school was very beneficial to my children. One reason more school districts don't go with this schedule is the the cost–not teacher pay but physical plant costs. In very hot areas the cost of A/C would be prohibitive.
The problem is here that it ISN'T a rule, and it's arbitrary. Students reported don't get punished. There is only "discussion" and in the Daily, ResLife only says they made the rule just to make sure roommates talk about boundaries with sex. It's really just something stupid that the admin came up with without any input from students, or thinking really.
If a student is rude enough to do it before the rule (and there are other Tufts dorm policies that made this "illegal") they won't care and break the rules again anyway. The threat of a conversation is not enough of a deterrent.
I would have to agree with the last poster. It is simply not enough to have the rule in place. There needs to be punishment, conversation is not adequate punishment what so ever.
The rule is punishable, the students who break the rule get written up. They can enforce the rule, if the roomate tells the RA. In my opinion, redesign dorms to single small space. How someone would have such little shame is unfathomable. It might be possible that the roomates dont listen to each other hence the rule. I thinks its a perfectly golden rule, and other schools should follow. No one has the right to put someone else in such an akward uncomfartable position.