Editorial: Colleges shouldn’t see juvenile records

Many students think that, once at college, they are embarking on a new start. However, students who have been convicted of crimes in juvenile courts might not be so lucky.

Under Pennsylvania’s Juvenile Act, courts must notify educational institutions of crimes committed by minors. However, a Pennsylvania appeals court recently ruled that this law, which in many states only applies to elementary, middle and high school students, can apply to students in college, as well.

This issue has come to light because a Pennsylvania student, identified only as S.D. in court documents relating to his case, was 17 when he uploaded a picture to a file-sharing network that resulted in charges of disseminating child pornography. S.D. had planned on going to Temple University, so the courts decided to notify the university — in addition to his high school — of his charges. According to an Inside Higher Ed article, S.D. has enrolled at Temple, although the university has declined to comment on the case.

While we understand the universities’ concerns of protecting their students and faculty from danger, we are concerned that laws like this could have long-term, adverse implications for many students with criminal records in the juvenile system — such as high school seniors applying to college and some college freshmen who are 17, and therefore could be tried as juveniles.

We think that courts notifying universities of students’ judicial records put students at risk of not being able to move on from their criminal records. One of the reasons to distinguish between a juvenile and adult judicial record is that juvenile records are anonymous, and they are often sealed or expunged, allowing people to make mistakes as children and then move past them as adults. Allowing such a record to follow a student to and through college — the beginning stages of adulthood — could hinder students in moving on from the crimes they committed as minors.

While many universities separately ask students whether or not they have ever been committed of a felony or other criminal activity when applying, we still do not consider it appropriate for courts to independently notify universities. Allowing students to self-report allows them space to explain criminal activity in their pasts. Some colleges refer these applications to a separate committee and may require students to complete an additional interview or turn in an additional reference, according to an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education. This process allows students to have a greater level of involvement in their admissions — and it excludes misdemeanor crimes that a court may report.

We are also concerned that this policy would negatively affect students who are minors in their first year of college. Considering that most criminal offenses committed during freshman year are of the minor sort — underage drinking, for example — we think that it’s unnecessary for courts to report such information to universities, where it could follow them and negatively affect their futures.

We understand parents’ and university administrators’ desire to know more information about college students’ pasts to ensure safety, but we think that the reporting of juvenile records should be limited to the elementary through high school level, because schools are typically considered legally responsible for students during school hours. Juvenile court records should not follow students through their lives as adults in college in Pennsylvania.