In Loco Parentis: Alive and Well

Abstract

In his 1770 compilation of English law, William Blackstone applied the phrase in loco parentis to educators. By definition, teachers were given the right to act as parents would when responding to disciplinary problems. However, it should be noted courts have permitted application of in loco parentis but have limited it to reasonable punishment in light of circumstances such as the nature of the infraction, method of discipline, and the age of the student (Zirkel & Reichner, 1987). While the 1960's were seen as a decade in which the mission of the school and the relationship between the student and the educational institution was challenged, the concept of in loco parentis remains very much alive and well in schools while in a significantly more challenging context. Schools are finding positive and creative answers to the many questions that are often associated with the growing responsibility and accountability of the school for the care, custody and education of those children under their tutelage. There is a clear indication that in loco parentis transcends elementary and secondary schools and is becoming significant in the higher education domain. According to an article in the March 3, 1999 issue of The New York Times (Bronner, 1999), and long after the Gott v. Berea College case (Bickel and Lake, 1994), which upheld the authority of the College to enforce a rule prohibiting its students from frequenting forbidden off-campus places, colleges are now offering and students are often demanding greater supervision of their lives, resulting in an updated and subtler version of in loco parentis. A sampling of this trend, cited by Bronner, is present at The Pennsylvania State University which has opened an alcohol-free, adult-supervised student center. At the University of Virginia, rules are being drafted to inform parents of drinking violations and Lehigh University has banned parties on campus without a staff member or other adult present. As far as colleges and universities are concerned, the choice comes down to a marketing dilemma: Who is a university's primary customer -- the student or the parent? Furthermore, the tragedy of a dormitory fire at Seton Hall University that killed three students and injured dozens more, tips the scale decisively on the side of safety and highlights the fact that institutions of higher education bear heavy responsibility for the lives and well-being of their students, especially those who live in college-provided dormitories (The Times, January 24, 2000). To provide yet another dimension to the issue of in loco parentis, the author profiled the responses of elementary, middle, and secondary in-service teachers (N=60) from a sample of urban and suburban schools in Mercer County, New Jersey, relative to their views of in loco parentis. In addition to reporting the findings of the survey, the author identified pertinent comments made by the respondents. The letters in parenthesis that follow comments are indicative of the school level of the respondent: (ES) elementary school, (MS) middle school, (HS) high school. It would appear from this survey of in-service teachers that the responses, in large measure, were made after appropriate reflection and deliberation. The mentality of completing yet another academic exercise in the most expedient manner was not reflected in the responses. Question 1: How do your define in loco parentis? * In place of parents. While we have students in our care we are in the role as parents as authority figures, as mentors, but not necessarily in all parental roles. (HS) * The phrase in loco parentis means I stand in and work on behalf of the parent in the most caring sense for their child. (MS) * Educators find themselves in the parental position of taking on more and more needs of students, including feeding and clothing, referring families to agencies that can help with their personal needs, etc. …

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