By: Stewart Hall
A number of colleges such as Kent State and Case Western have decided that it is necessary to have a freshman forgiveness policy that allows students to re-take classes that they took their freshman year. Critics of this policy say that freshman need to learn to be responsible adults in their first year and therefore should be responsible for their grades. This may be true; however, it takes a bit of time to learn how to do this, and this period of learning should not be counted against students forever.
College is about learning. It takes time to learn. Expecting freshman to perform as responsible adults from the moment they arrive on campus is a bit like giving a final exam on the first day of class. The change from living at home to living by yourself at college is a very drastic one. There are more things to do and fewer enforced restrictions. Learning to balance activities and make good decisions is the process of learning to become a responsible adult. Just as students cannot be expected to learn academic topics immediately, they should not be expected to learn new lifestyles immediately. So, it is a good thing that schools have freshman forgiveness policies because these realize that learning is a process whether you are learning mathematics or life skills, and these schools treat each in a similar way.
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