Penna Dexter

Students at colleges across the country are increasingly using a relatively new tool for staying “safe:” the No Contact Order. No Contact Orders — NCOs – were originally developed to protect students who were victims of sexual harassment or assault on campus. A recent Wall Street Journal report states: “Over the past 10 years, however, the circumstances under which a student might request an NCO have expanded considerably.” Today, they are used for “roommate disputes, ruptures between friends,” and other “relationship issues.”

The Journal describes an NCO as “the campus version of a restraining order.” Schools that issue NCOs say they are “nondisciplinary.” Conduct administrators describe requests for NCOs by a student who said, “her roommate allegedly stole her bagels, by participants in a group project gone awry” and by students involved in “a social-media skirmish.”

David Karp, Professor of Sociology at the University of San Diego, with a specialty in restorative justice and conflict resolution, says colleges hand out no contact orders “like candy.” He told The Journal, “We generally know that students are increasingly fragile and conflict-averse.” He and others in his field maintain that even school administrators who are reluctant to issue NCOs often “cave” in the face of pressure from helicopter parents.

Perhaps the rise in the use of these No Contact Orders, and students’ tendency to seek them for everyday disagreements, shouldn’t surprise us. Gen Zers who live much of life online are used to using digital tools to block unwanted communications online.

They often have a hard time handling conflict when it involves interacting face-to-face with peers. The Journal article points to “online behaviors that enable kids, from an early age, to shut out people they dislike or disapprove of.”

Colleges have allowed the concept of student safety to be watered down. Students and their parents are asking for protections, like NCO’s that erect bubbles around kids. Perhaps, instead of issuing No Contact Orders, schools should teach their students how to get along.