Recently, many colleges and universities have issued regulations prohibiting students from hanging bed curtains in dormitories, on the grounds that bed curtains have fire hazards and affect ventilation and lighting, but many students have expressed doubts and dissatisfaction with this. In fact, for most students, it is a luxury to have a small piece of private space, the dormitory is not only a place to rest, but also a harbor of youth memory.
I really wonder if the faculty offices are also strictly forbidden to hang curtains, paintings, and other decorations. The school said that the bed curtain affects the ventilation, and the dormitory bunk is not necessarily better than the ventilation of the divided space. The school says that bed curtains can harbor bacteria? Have you forgotten the days when mushrooms grew in the bathrooms of our dorms?
What's even more ridiculous is that a certain school actually said that the bed curtain is an "invisible wall" that hinders interpersonal communication. If hanging a bed curtain constitutes a "barrier", then shouldn't we criticize the library for providing private places such as reading rooms? Do we also condemn the system that asked "do you need to automatically pop up a new window" when the campus network access certification was verified last year?
I really don't understand why some schools are so restless and blind to the basic needs of their students. I bet someone will criticize, "You're just young and ignorant, so you say things that don't make sense." Well, let's start with some wrecking cases.
In June 2020, the head of a school said there had been an accident in which a student died two days after a bed curtain. In 2019, a dormitory fire occurred in a university, which was alleged to be caused by the aging electrical wiring and ignition of the bed curtain. These two accidents are undoubtedly shocking.
But even if we want to eliminate the risks, shouldn't we first get to the root cause and directly point the finger at the scapegoat of bed curtains? For example, shouldn't we first improve the health and safety conditions of students' dormitories, strengthen fire safety education, and update wiring and manage electrical appliances? If bed curtains must be banned, can we give students the right to participate democratically, at least let students understand the real causes, instead of making empty promises about "potential safety hazards"?
After all, the conditions of the dormitories of students in many colleges and universities are so poor that some dormitories even have windows that cannot be opened, the corridors are narrow, and the facilities are outdated and damaged.
My personal view is that the privacy and security bottom line of student dormitories should be basically respected and protected, and the path of practice should be:
1. Effectively improve the hardware conditions of student dormitories, increase the per capita living area, and equip them with advanced fire-fighting equipment to fundamentally ensure safety.
2. Explore feasible partition solutions to provide students with a moderate amount of privacy in a gradual manner, rather than simply denying the need.
3. Actively organize group activities to enhance students' feelings and resolve conflicts on the premise of respecting individual wishes.
In any case, power must not prevail over people's legitimate demands, and universities should not dictate the lives of young people with narrow ideas. Keep your eyes open and take a good look, these young lives are precious, and educating them with love is the best policy, rather than dictating and suppressing them with bans. I sincerely hope that all colleges and universities will not slack off in their studies, but be pragmatic and take action. It is the responsibility of educators to provide students with a comfortable school environment, and it is also the humanistic temperament that universities should have.