I just spent the last 3 1/2 hours of my life taking a required online course for entering freshmen at the University of Iowa. It's called Alcohol EDU.
3 1/2 hours of information that I've been told again and again since 2nd grade. (In varying degrees of comprehension, of course. I mean, the D.A.R.E. program I went through as a 2nd grader was different than the one I went through in middle school because I was able to comprehend more as I got older.) I mean...seriously...it's a required course that's designed to make people be able to make 'informed and healthy decisions' about alcohol and drugs.
I'm of the camp that says a stupid online course isn't going to change people's minds about what they're going to do when they get to college. The party kids who are going to college solely to party and get drunk aren't going to suddenly come to a realization, because of the course, that what they're planning to do is a bad idea. They're going to take the class, probably pass it, and still go out and drink like it's going out of style. Inversely, the people who are going to college to actually learn something are going to take the course, probably pass it, and continue with their plan of action.
Sometimes knowledge doesn't equal power. The more one knows about alcohol doesn't necessarily mean they're going to use that knowledge.
ARGH. I think I just lost some braincells taking that thing.
And it's not over yet. In a month I have to take the last chapter.
*hits head on the wall*
Lara