Drugs and Alcohol - Dirty Little Secrets

[Jon Stratis]

While it's great that responsible use can provide a good, worthwhile example for someone like monochron, someone else may take away from it that it's ok to drink with dinner every night, and that impression may lead to problems down the road. Better, in my personal opinion, is to show the students that it's possible for adults to go out and have a good time without any alcohol. They may assume you occasionally drink, but having the example of not drinking when it's available may go a longer way.

That said, I don't really think it's in the job description of a mentor to attempt to educate students on anything other that what we're there for - inspiration and recognition of science and technology. It's not my job at meetings to lecture kids about alcohol use, or talk about politics, or or anything else that may be controversial. It's to show them that engineering is fun, and that it exists largely outside of all those other concerns. Focus on what we're there for, and when necessary refer the students to the appropriate individuals employed by the school.