School is hit with age bias complaint — by 13-year-old
March 22, 2010 by Taylor HanniganPosted in: In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views
A precocious undergrad didn’t get a course he wanted. The school is citing safety concerns.
Colin Carlson is a double-degree candidate at the University of Connecticut, where he’s focusing on environmental studies as well as ecology and evolutionary biology.
Carlson’s carrying a 3.9 GPA. Although technically a sophomore, he’s already earned as many credits as most seniors.
He’s also 13 years old.
But all is not well. Carlson was really looking forward to taking a field ecology class that included a three-week trip to South Africa. He says the university wouldn’t let him take the class because the professor thought he was too young to make the trip – even though his mother was willing to go along at her own expense.
Now mother and son have filed a discrimination complaint with the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. In their minds, it’s a clear case of age bias.
The school has been pretty tight-lipped so far, other than to say it takes a safety-first approach when it comes to study-abroad programs.
The complaint remains pending.
Should Carlson be able to take the class? Tell us what you think in the comments section below.
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March 24th, 2010 at 11:35 am
If the mother is going, what is the problem?
March 24th, 2010 at 1:30 pm
The kid should be allowed to go. More than likely, given what he’s accomplished thus far, he arguably has a better head on his shoulders than most of his undergraduate peers!
March 24th, 2010 at 2:18 pm
At least the prof won’t have to worry about Colin’s late night partying interfering with his class participation.
March 24th, 2010 at 5:34 pm
It could be that the professor was not so much concerned about the child’s intellect or his partying habits as his maturity level. A high IQ and intellectual prowess does not always make for a socially and politically mature individual. Colin is a child with an adult’s brain.
Given some of the sensitive climate of parts of South Africa, it could be that the professor knew the situations they would encounter and, based upon his experience with Colin, he may have decided that the child was not yet ready to handle things that may require an adult’s judgment in speech or action. The professor may have been concerned that the people (officials, etc.) they would encounter in their S.A. experience may be troubled or put-off by a child’s presence. And there may have been other issues that may require them to intersect with violent or sexual content that, again, a child would not yet be equipped to process without some difficulty. He is the age of middle-school child–that does require some different handling than the average college student. Colin may indeed be more mature than his college “colleagues,” but we can’t assume that just because he has a high GPA.
March 24th, 2010 at 5:34 pm
If the mother is willing to sign a hold harmless agreement and to go along on the trip and assume full responsibility for the child, I don’t see a problem. The school has no liability in this case and as for a safety issue, if he’s not safe with his mother, he’s not safe anywhere.
March 29th, 2010 at 3:55 pm
Let him go. His mom is going along. Plus I would bet that his maturity, self-confidence, and ability to get through difficult situations is better than his classmates. Also, I would imagine that most of them would go out of their way to protect him if a situation were to occur. Is the professor intimidated by him? Clearly a case of bias, IMHO.
March 29th, 2010 at 4:04 pm
Do all of the students get to bring their mothers?
March 29th, 2010 at 4:05 pm
Absolutely he should be allowed to go . . . his mother is willing to go at no expense to the school and I am sure she will sign a waiver to be responsible for him. This certainly does sound like a case of age bias.
March 29th, 2010 at 4:06 pm
Is child the anti-christ? Who is 13 and a senior in college. He must be executed. Do not allow him to go and start the plagues that will end the world.
March 29th, 2010 at 4:06 pm
Listen, if the student was accepted to get into this program of study, the school should have thought ahead that there would be some course or something along the way while he is in this program where this could happen. Being that they did not think ahead, now they should not prohit this student from going, especially if the parent is going too–I agree, if his mother is going, it must be safe for him to go with her. Should have thought ahead that this day would come.
March 29th, 2010 at 4:10 pm
I honestly don’t see what the issue is here. The mother is willing to accompany her minor child at no cost to the school. If the school is still concerned, draft an agreement stating that the mother assumes all responsibility for her child’s safety.
March 29th, 2010 at 4:12 pm
This is where the confluence of “equal protection” meets “due process.” Both the University and the 13 year old student have legitimate issues at stake. But in contemporary American society, and part of the feature of culture, is the old fashioned Western shoot out, where like a sports contest, one side feels it must prevail at all costs or the “public good” is damaged. That is, they mean their interest represents the public good. If the mother is willing to cover her additonal costs, and there is no other hidden agenda for proscribing the 13 year old’s participation, why not let them go. But if the University can demonstrate a substantive safety issue, then for the sake of the program mother and son should respect the limits. Compromise, by which Americans often feel someone is inauthentic or straddling the fence, needs to be revived.
March 29th, 2010 at 4:24 pm
As the mother of a child who is mentally much older than his body looks, I think the school authorities and his professor needs to think again. If the parents were letting the school take the responsibility for him overseas, then the issue would be different, but since his mother is willing to go along, then they need to be open to the idea that a person in a 13 year old body can be ready for the ideas that they are offering to their undergraduates. I take it that they are not screening all of the other undergraduates for their readiness to take this trip…
March 29th, 2010 at 4:24 pm
If the college can let him take classes there at that age, I don’t see the problem why he can’t participate on the trip with his mother (his Guardian). The college can take his money, but they won’t let him participate in the programs of the subjects he is taking. That sounds like a lawsuit the College won’t win. Might be one of the first age dicrimination lawsuits of the Millenium.
March 29th, 2010 at 4:42 pm
I know a whole lot of 18-22 year olds withwhom I’d feel uncomfortable travelling becuase they are imature and likely to make poor choices. This one is a senior at 13 with a 3.9 GPA? Do you think he’d be crawling off to bars? Leaving the group? What then? Mom is a really good sport to be willing to go. I think this particular kid could probably be sent without the teacher!
March 29th, 2010 at 4:48 pm
Without going into alot of details, here we have a very gifted individual who obviously knows what he wants to do. Is 13 years old an immature age? In the normal average age of a child, yes, but this young man is anything but normal. Why does the system want to hold back a possible genius? Is it not enough that the mother is willing to go? Does this not show the care and support this young man has with his parents? We should have such support for all our students. I believe the University dropped the ball in this case. How is someone going to get the experience if not allowed to attend? I would hold the parent responible and let this young man excel!!!! HRM
March 29th, 2010 at 4:48 pm
I agree with ChamberDoc.
March 29th, 2010 at 4:50 pm
Oh, let the child go. Perhaps he will be eaten by cannibals and learn the value of not bring lawsuits every time he does not get his way. But seriously, I know that there are not cannibals in South Africa. Adrien has given a very good, well-reasoned repsonse to this situation. As for the school, I think they should let the boy go on the trip, and stop using the weak excuse of “safety” to keep him home.
March 29th, 2010 at 5:09 pm
Let the child go. He’s studying ecology and evolutionary biology. If he gets hurt or dies, it’s a simple case of natural selection. No harm no foul.
March 29th, 2010 at 5:25 pm
Colin was on the Today Show and said the school offered him the option of Kenya as an alternative. That seems to fly in the face of the safety theory. I feel this is a non-issue as the mother is accompanying her son. Given his maturity on live television, I believe he is up to the task.
March 29th, 2010 at 5:29 pm
I agree with Adrien. I do not believe a 13 year-old has the maturity to handle a study abroad experience in most countries. In addition, I do not believe it apropriate for a parent to accompany a a college student on a field trip.
March 29th, 2010 at 5:34 pm
As a young woman, I was able to evade most of the age discrimination that I would have faced had I been a young man or a younger-looking female. I was fifteen when I was a college sophomore, but because I looked much older, I was able to successfully lie about my age (I usually added six years to my age). There was another girl I knew who was a sixteen-turning-seventeen-year-old freshman. She was generally hated and ostracized. The only way I avoided this was by lying, and since I wasn’t old enough to have a driver’s license, no one could ask to see it. I used my college ID (which did not show a birthdate) to get into bars, saying “This ID is two years old, so obviously I’m over 18″. However, although I avoided discrimination from peers and professors, I sadly was not able to participate in things like NCAA sports, living away from my parents, study abroad, or Greek life. I also was not mature enough to choose a major that would benefit me in the long run—I just picked the department that threw me the most money, which was music performance.
So while I support this kid on the one hand, on the other, I wish he were in high school still, so he could take driver’s ed (I never could), go to clubs with his friends senior year (I had to use a fake ID) and so on. Even if he were as mature as an 18- or 19-year-old, he will still miss out on many rites of passage and will probably regret it later. You can’t play college sports or join a fraternity when you’re in grad school!!!!
March 29th, 2010 at 5:40 pm
Adrien makes much more sense here. There’s a lot at stake when there’s a 13-yr-old AND his mother. What kind of special arrangements have to be made to include someone’s mommy because he isn’t a legal adult? Will she have to be right there for him the entire trip? This isn’t fair to the other ADULT students who may feel uncomfortable or intimidated with her there.
As far as ‘hold harmless agreements’, they’re not worth the paper they’re written on – a good lawyer will always find a way to get around them to sue (isn’t that what they’re paid to do??). If this didn’t involve traveling out of the US it wouldn’t be a problem. A lesson needs to be taught here and that is he can’t always get everything he wants – no matter how smart you are. He’s the same age as a middle school student – the age of puberty.
March 29th, 2010 at 6:04 pm
I don’t see why not the child can go if the mother is responsable for the child I don’t see the problem.
March 29th, 2010 at 6:07 pm
It’ll be a pleasure to soon read this insitution has been ordered by the courts to eat crow. Once they admitted this student they no longer have the option to treat him any different than any other student; especially if their documents indicate language related to ‘non-discrimantion based of gender, crede, ethnic, and/or age, etc.”, their case is most likely in deep doo-doo; Colin and mom should start packing.
March 29th, 2010 at 6:08 pm
I would not allow my 13 year old child to travel half way across the world. That alone is nuts. People with highly educted degrees have no common sense.
March 29th, 2010 at 6:37 pm
It seems to me the mother’s presence nullifies all arguments for banning Colin from the trip. As a college student Colin has clearly already broken the maturity barrier. Colin should be going on this field trip.
March 29th, 2010 at 7:05 pm
I ran across the same thing in the 70′s with my daughter – she was taking college credits in 6th & 7th grade and the college didn’t know how to handle it. One possibility about overseas is that Colin’s immunity would not be up to adult level. But I do agree with ChanberDoc about a “hold harmless” agreement – it would be an awful circumstance if his age was the only thing holding him back.
March 29th, 2010 at 7:08 pm
Of course he should be able to go! especially if his mom is going! if this kid is smart enough to be like a college senior at 13 he is definitely fine to go to a study abroad program…he also doesnt seem like the typical partying college student…
March 29th, 2010 at 7:28 pm
Since when is 13 year old a member of a protected class. I thought colleges and other organizations are free to discriminate on the basis of age so long as their decisions do not have a negative effect on persons within a protected class, which I think is 40 or 45 or something.
March 29th, 2010 at 8:24 pm
The college has bent its rules by admitting this 13 year old. If they do not want minors to go on study abroad trips, they should have the right to do so. By filing an age discrimonation law suit, the family is showing a lack of gratitude for all the accomodations the school has given this boy.
The College will win this and the leason to the boy is sue if you don;t get your way. Thanks mom!
March 29th, 2010 at 8:57 pm
This is a case of the Professor being right until he was wrong. When the mother jumped in and offered to chaperone her son at her own expense, the school should have quickly drawn up a legal agreement to thr effect that the mother was responsible for her son’s personal safety as well as her own. If she signed the agreement, it’s Bon Voyage time.
March 30th, 2010 at 8:41 am
I totally agree with Adrien. The child’s (and let us not forget that he is still a child, not an adult like the rest of his college peers) professor is looking at this trip objectively while Mom may be seeing her child who has surpassed all of his “like-age” peers in practically everything and has no doubt given him every chance to succeed. But there comes a time when Mom needs to say “NO”, this may not be right just yet. Believe me, there are some 18-23 year old students’ parents who say no to such trips. Give him a few years to psychologically and socially mature so that he may then take such a trip and truly gain the amazing lessons expected.
March 30th, 2010 at 9:34 am
his mother is going so I see no problem. I don’t think he’s looking to party in Africa. Yes some parents wouldn’t let their 18-23 year olds go. I work at a college and the 23 year olds act like 13 years old so whats the problem.
March 30th, 2010 at 9:37 am
I feel Colin should be allowed to take the trip to South Africa since his mother is going with him. We should reward a student for doing the right thing. The way I see it is society rewards students for doing bad; by this I mean when they break the law they are put in jail with a roof over their head, clothes to wear and food to eat. Although they have lost their freedom they are in a way rewarded.
March 30th, 2010 at 9:56 am
If it is not ‘safe’ for the boy to go with his mother along, then how ‘safe’ is it for the other students and the professor? I think they should find a location in the ‘good ole USA’ to obtain the objectives of the course.
March 30th, 2010 at 9:58 am
I totally agree with the issues Adrain raised. Regardless, of the mother’s presence…he is a ‘CHILD.’ There are situations happening in Africa that American adults are not prepared to for; much less a mother with her 13 year old child. Take in consideration the recent devasting earthquake in Haiti and how heart wrenching it was for exchange students who got out safely but lost classmates. So many of us cried and worried wondering if our exchange students were safe. What a relief when most of them returned to the US safely although shaken and distraught. Thirteen and excelling academically is different from 13 and being socially mature and responsible to make weighty decisions during an unforseen occurrence. Mom should have been the first to decide that this trip may be more than her child could handle.
March 30th, 2010 at 10:13 am
What’s the issue? The kid’s mother is traveling with the group at her own expense. Granted, there may be some dangerous situations in South Africa but who’s to say that nothing would happen if this was a pleasure trip. Is it really a safety issue or is it a matter of intimidation issues that his peers are dealing with that has been brought to the faculty member’s attention?
March 30th, 2010 at 10:21 am
No, he should not be allowed to go to S Africa. The school would assume undue responsibility as he is a minor, whether or not a parent accompanies him and whether or not he is a matriculated student. Unfortunately, this is the downside for being a brilliant 13 year old in college.
I can see it now, he is injured, missing, or worse = lawsuit. Uconn made the smart choice.
March 30th, 2010 at 11:05 am
Perhaps he should be allowed to go, but I don’t think his suit has any legal basis. Legally he’s a minor. It is age discrimination, and the law frequently discriminates on the basis of age. In most states he can’t vote, drive, drink alcohol or marry. The college is being small-minded but legally they should prevail. A jury may be convinced otherwise.
March 30th, 2010 at 11:47 am
Yes he should be allowed to go because his parent (mother) is going with him.
March 30th, 2010 at 12:08 pm
I actually think everyone is acting correctly. The school should raise its concerns and initially say “We don’t think it is a good idea.” Then, since Colin is really anxious to go, he should be allowed to go, but not until a few lawyers sort that out and make sure all issues are covered. I don’t think it will need to go to a jury trial, but I think bringing in lawyers is the correct solution.
March 30th, 2010 at 12:35 pm
I think I would need to know more about what the course entails in South Africa before deciding. Maybe there is something legitimate in the professor’s decision regarding both Colin and his mother. I really don’t see why Colin can’t wait a year or two to take the course. Colin isn’t banned forever, just this summer.
March 30th, 2010 at 12:40 pm
I think as long as he has parental supervision he should be allowed to go. But the parents and kids should attend some type of operational security briefing to understand what is going on in South Africa before they take the trip so they can make an informed decision.
TOP 4 PROBLEMS IN SOUTH AFRICA AS OF TODAY 3/29/2010
Racial Problem – South Africa had a complicated and varied racial problem. The There are situations in Africa where the white people have impinged themselves against Africans, against peoples of races other than their own thereby creating racial dividing lines. So don’t be caught in the wrong part of town at the wrong time.
HIV/ AIDS – Is rampant in this country. Personally, I think the child is too young to be engaging in this activity but this is a possibility. Given he has the intellect of a college senior, if peer pressure is present, sowing his wild oats can be devastating.
Crime Problem – One of the biggest problems that South Africa is facing is rape of minors. Women and children are the target victims of the criminals of present South Africa. His mother is a woman and the 13 year old is a minor. Possibly “white” making them high risk targets.
The problems of South Africa are continuously creating poverty and unemployment. This means increased mugging and kidnapping for ransoms and possible human slave traders.
Is an out of country experience worth exposing your bright well adjusted 13 year old to any of these items? That’s up to the moral compass of the parents. I definitely suggest the school obtain a waiver holding them harmless if any of these things or others should happen. As a father I say stay your a$$ home and play some playstation 3 games for a while.
March 30th, 2010 at 12:45 pm
I agree with Bill and many others. He’s going to have parental supervision, and she’s going at her own expense. This is a no-brainer.
March 30th, 2010 at 1:24 pm
I’m a university professor who has taught field courses, both locally and overseas. I don’t think most people have any idea of how much responsibility and work these undertakings require on the part of the leaders. I have to make all travel, lodging, and food arrangements for the group, I have to keep everyone safe (including concerns about drinking water, communicable diseases, etc.), and I have to be cautious not to offend anybody in the local community. At the same time, I have to deliver a meaningful educational experience to the students, and carry out the pre-arranged research or other work that justifies the project in the first place. This all takes time and lots of preparation.
I have had very few young teen-agers participate in my field classes, and I won’t take 13-year olds any more, unless I know the accompanying adult VERY WELL. My last two experiences of youngsters and their parents were not very pleasant. The kids were OK, the parents were awful. One mom thought her child was so brilliant, that listening to the professor was a waste of mom’s time. Having one participant ignore my instructions created unnecessary stress for the rest of the students. I don’t like having conflicts with students, much less adult participants. The other child’s father was a know-it-all who made no effort to get along with the older students in the group. Dad and son isolated themselves socially, and dad regularly made unpleasant remarks about everything: the food, the living accommodations, the local people, the hard work, and the state of the world in general.
To sum it up: take the kid, leave mom at home.
March 30th, 2010 at 2:10 pm
Maybe the accomdations are limited and the mother going would mean that one less student could go on the trip. Thre are only so many seats in vehicles, beds in places to stay, etc. This aspect is not addressed at all in the original statement of the facts, and brings a whole new dimension to the discussion.
March 30th, 2010 at 2:57 pm
Living for years in SA and knowing well the conditions there, I would not take my 13 years old child (even if he/she could be very mature intellectually) with me, when traveling to some places in SA to study environmental study aned ecology. The townships of Khayelitsha and Alexandra, which are usually part of the itinerary are not 100 % safe. What is more important than the safety conditions is the level of poverty and human suffering which while important to be known by a 18-20 years old student could be unbearable knowledge for a 13 years old child.
March 30th, 2010 at 4:33 pm
Geez, what is the issue here? If mom is willing to go and assume responsibility for her kid, LET HIM GO. If he has the maturity to hold a 3.9 GPA among his 20ish year-old peers, I think he can handle it. But I agree – given his lack of “official adult status” I’d be leary of liability – mom would have to come along.
March 31st, 2010 at 7:59 am
You don’t always get what you want in life when you want it. Typical to consider litigation – seems the things folks do these days when they don’t get their way. I side with the school.
March 31st, 2010 at 8:57 am
Can he outrun Lions, Tigers and Bears:) nor can the professor and the other students. Pray that God gives everyone a safe trip, learn all you can, and have a little fun in the process. Oh, and don’t forget to bring home a souvenior or two for the ones you left behind.
March 31st, 2010 at 9:20 am
John says it best – right to the point! I agree. Too many factors as pointed out by many posters here with personal experience (listen to Olga!).