The administration is currently reviewing the Junior parietal policy, and on October 19 the faculty will vote on whether to remove Junior parietals completely. The parietal policy in the Blue Book states that, after obtaining permission from a House Counselor, Juniors may have a member of the opposite sex in their rooms with the door open. The current policy also states that Juniors are not allowed to have parietals fall term. The idea of changing this policy emerged from discussion among faculty and the Community Health Team last November during a meeting about community values and behavior. Dean of Students and Residential Life Paul Murphy said, “There was a feeling that we should discuss and poll the issue of Junior parietals and also parietals for 10th graders.” “Although there was not unanimity among the faculty about what we should do, after the survey was conducted, results indicated that the Community Health Team should bring this question forward for discussion,” Murphy continued. The proposal for this policy change will create conversation about what is in the best interest for students at this time. Murphy said, “There will be faculty who like [the policy] as it is, people who would love to get rid of it entirely and people who are in the middle and think that we should scale back and make some sort of change.” Generally, the faculty who believe that a modification needs to be made to the existing system believe that Juniors are too young to be having parietals. Murphy said, “Within the last couple of years, some ninth grade house counselors have started to express discomfort with granting parietals. Sometimes a house counselor in a dorm might think that their certain group of kids aren’t ready to have parietals, so they voice their opinion.” “The question that we are discussing is if it is appropriate if one year or grade is not ready, should [a change in parietal policy] be something we have to do, or something we should do.” Zoë Roschach ’12 said “As a prefect in Nathan Hale, I don’t think that it’s a good idea for Juniors to not have parietals. I know that it’s for the safety of the students, but even though some girls are in relationships, most parietals are used for studying.” “It’s a good thing for Juniors to be able to socialize and study in the comfort of their own room,” Roschach continued. Murphy said, “Even though parietals are not always about sexual activity, Massachusetts State Law does not allow students to be sexually active until they are 16. None of our ninth graders are 16 yet, so we are trying to coordinate state law with the rules of [the school].” “On the other hand, many faculty know that students use parietals for non-sexual activity, and a thoughtful group of people will bring this up for discussion,” he continued. Ryan Ramos ’12, said, “As a prefect in America house, [lack of Junior parietals] will definitely take a significant amount of work load off of me, but at the same time, I think that it’s a little unfair considering that they have allowed parietals all this time.” “Juniors also haven’t matured fully yet, and parietals are a lot of responsibility,” he continued. The faculty will be having a full discussion on Monday, October 11 about how changes will affect the students, and on October 19, there will be an electronic vote among teachers regarding what change will be made. If the faculty decide that a change must be made, the new policy will take effect during winter term. “There could be a complete change, there could be no change; we have no idea at this point,” Murphy said.
