No Drinking In Class

One of the things I was rather surprised by during my first year of law school was the number of rules that professors had regarding behavior of students in class. Perhaps my age is getting the best of me, but I had assumed that the days when professors had to lecture students on raising their hands, not eating a meal during class, holding conversations with neighbors, surfing the internet on laptops and other disruptive behavior ended when I left undergrad. And that was ten years ago.

Of course, when I was in undergrad no one but the tools ever brought a laptop to class.

I am a big fan of limited rules in class – I would rather let my fellow students police behavior through good old-fashioned peer pressure than waste class time having the professors do it. I’m sure I can do a better job getting my neighbor to quit surfing Perez Hilton in class than the professor can.

Now, I don’t want to give the impression that no one in class is paying attention because they’re too busy playing World of Warcraft and eating catered dinners. But then again, last night, I was reminded that maybe professors do need to set down rules. Summer classes have begun and during our inaugural session our Professional Responsibility professor went through his usual rules, ending with “no drinking in class.” He said this with a bottle of water in his hand. I was about to get my dander up at this blatant hypocrisy when he clarified he was talking about alcohol, not general drinks.

I would be naive if I said I didn’t think this kind of thing ever happened in school – even law school. We’re all over 21, so having a drink before or after class isn’t a big deal. But c’mon. Drinking in class? Really?

I don’t get it. Unless you’re a bona fide alcoholic (which raises plenty of questions on its own) I don’t see how anybody needs booze to get through an hour long class. And what’s worse, I can’t believe that this is the kind of thing a professor actually feels the need to bring up specifically. And the way he couched it, he was laying the rule down not because he suspected it was occuring, but because it actually had occurred in his other classes. I had heard rumors, of course, but I didn’t think they had risen to the level that the professor would have figured it out.

I have to question the judgment of a future lawyer who would think boozing it up in Contracts is cool.

Then again, from one perspective, I suppose I shouldn’t be upset with this kind of behavior – if you’re drunk in class, you’re probably only going to help the curve come finals. At the same time, there’s something about it that I find inherently disrespectful.

I wonder if anyone else out there has an experience with this kind of crap in class. Is this a big deal? Is it not a big deal? Is it universal? Or was this an isolated situation?