Last month the mom of a UNC Chapel Hill student fell from a dorm-room bunk bed and died from the head injury — an awful and sad accident. I hope you’ll join me in praying for this family.
UNC’s response to the accident? The university is considering requiring rails on all dorm bunk beds — even though a similar death has never occurred and, ironically, the rails themselves have hurt students several times, according to the housing director.
I’m sure those who think this regulation is a good idea truly believe they are helping the students. However, the all-or-nothing housing regulation UNC is considering is rooted in the mindset that government/authority knows best and must protect each of us from ourselves — the very mindset that has resulted in a vast, costly and complicated regulatory maze across virtually all sectors of industry and life. The result? individual choice and responsibility have been relegated to afterthought status.
Reasonable regulation is appropriate in the areas of public health and public safety when we as individuals are unable to protect ourselves from harm or threat on our own. But when regulation seeks to protect us from ourselves, we have taken the wrong road. People have the right to make decisions and take risks — even ones that some of us consider ill-advised and — as in the case of the tragic UNC accident — when the likelihood of a tragedy is minute.
Currently, UNC Chapel Hill students can request bed rails, and some do. That is the appropriate option for the university to offer.
