If you’re a New York parent of a son or daughter headed off to university or already immersed in the collegiate experience, you might as well admit it. You’re duly proud of your offspring’s growth and continued maturation away from home, but you still can’t stop fretting about their well-being every so often.
Because, well, kids are kids, notwithstanding all evidence pointing to their persistent evolution toward full adulthood. Your child may be firmly embarked on a post-secondary adventure and exploration, but you sometimes worry about potential challenges that might arise.
Why do loving parents think that way?
Moms and dad were once freshly minted young adults themselves. They can duly think back presently to that period of life with a nuanced perspective that they just didn’t have when they were still evolving in their late teens and early 20s.
And it is precisely that perspective that sometimes induces worry, because parents simply know that young people routinely court both opportunity and challenge. They did. So too do their children.
“College is a rite of passage,” stresses an authoritative online overview of problematic legal issues that can arise for college students. That in-depth piece notes that “amid all the excitement, it’s easy to get in trouble.”
Legal hurdles that sometimes challenge college students
The expansive Syracuse metro area and surrounding environs spanning Central New York cater to scores of thousands of young people furthering their educations at myriad universities, colleges, technical institutes and other facilities.
Those individuals can confront law enforcement challenges across a broad spectrum of possibilities. The following types of criminal charges are especially common in college environments:
- Alcohol-tied offenses (ranging widely from drunk driving and underage drinking to providing alcohol to a minor, fake ID use and more)
- Theft offenses (e.g., shoplifting, larceny and burglary)
- Drug offenses (such as the possession or distribution of a controlled substance)
- Assault (a bar fight or dorm altercation, for example)
- Disorderly conduct (much alleged misbehavior can be pegged to this charge)
The above-cited legal source underscores that notably harsh exactions can attach for a student facing a criminal charge. Those range “from loss of financial aid to diminished job prospects – not to mention criminal consequences.”
Such results, while dire, are not automatic. A concerned parent understandably focused on a child’s welfare can secure timely and proven legal representation from an experienced legal team that routinely pursues optimal outcomes for young people facing criminal charges.