By JESSIE OWENSBY
Co-Opinions Editor

Piedmont College is a private college. It provides an excellent education, and students here make lifelong friends.
Piedmont was founded upon the congregational church. If you don’t know about Congregationalism, it is one of the most liberal denominations of the Christian religion.
Also, all the students at Piedmont are at least 18, this means they are all adults. They have the right to vote, purchase cigarettes, live alone, have children and do almost anything they please.
There are many students in relationships. Some of them choose to delve into the realm of sexual relations with one another. Still, many choose to wait for varied reasons.
However, those who choose to have sex, have that right, and will do so no matter the rules. If they want to do that, they will do it during their permitted visiting hours, so a curfew isn’t stopping anything.
Piedmont enforces a curfew for residents between the hours of 2 a.m. and 10 a.m. I understand, as an adult, the reasons for this. It isn’t completely about sex between students. The adults who made the rules know they can’t stop anyone from human discretion.
However, there are several other reasons to enforce such “mundane” rules. One is to ensure the safety of the student body. If anyone and everyone are allowed to come in and out as they please all the time, then our dormitories are not being protected from those who want to harm us. This is also the reason for the sign in sheet when one visits another. It is there so that Piedmont police (or whoever is in charge of the sign-in sheets) can keep track of the 867 people who live on campus.
However, I do think that Piedmont can relax a bit on the “consequences” for getting caught. Students know where their rooms are, and surely, they can make it there, no matter the time.
If one student chooses to stay in another student’s room the whole night, no matter the gender, they should be able to do so without punishment. Besides, gays and lesbians can do whatever they like. The only people that get punished are heterosexuals. That’s not right!
Safety is a big deal, but we need to figure out a way for students to come and go into their rooms as they please. Most dorms have security cameras. This is helpful to ensure that the people in the dorms are actually students.
Some dorms have key entrance only doors. This is also helpful to ensure the same. All dorms should be equipped with both of these features regardless of curfew policies.
But as long as the students are mingling with other students, and as long as the people who are coming in and out of dorms are Piedmont students, then why is there a punishment for adults who get caught in another room past a certain time?
They are grown adults, who, yes, should have to sign in and sign out, but that’s about it. Come on Piedmont, let’s be realistic about the situation.