ASAP Policy: More Harm than Good

Once merely an acronym for “As Soon As Possible,” ASAP has undertaken a whole new context amongst the faculty and students of the Exeter community. The academy defines ASAP as the “Academy Student Assistance Program” and states in the E-book that the "non-disciplinary ASAP provides prevention, early identification, intervention and referral services for students who are having emotional, academic, behavioral, social or family difficulties, as well as those with alcohol or other drug abuse problems or eating disorders.” People who get ASAPed are then provided with professional care and services, which of course creates unnecessary drama and suspicion about who ASAPed whom.

In my opinion, Exeter’s ASAP doesn’t actually help anyone. When I heard that my classmate, who I will keep anonymous, got ASAPed, they told me that it was a waste of time and resources. “I’ve already talked to people about it in the past and that didn’t fix anything, so what does the school think will happen by me going to talk to someone else?” they asked. Oftentimes, the help provided just goes to waste and students revert back to their old ways. Students who have been ASAPed for substance abuse will continue to use those substances, and people who have been ASAPed for mental health will not have their problems fully resolved. Though I’m sure that the ASAP system works for some people, I am also sure that for the majority of Exonians the program is a waste of time. Just because the Academy is willing to offer help doesn’t mean that people are willing to receive that help.

But even if ASAPing people did help them heal, not everyone is ASAPing their friends, either because they don’t want their friends to go through the arduous process or because they don’t see it as a big problem themselves. Many who know of someone actually needing help often take a passive role, not wanting to create tensions between them (even though the school is very strict about keeping anonymity) or have the mentality of “it’s their life, not mine.”

Sometimes, people use ASAPing as a crux in a friendship and as revenge if they start having issues with them. These revenge reports are often occur because the person ASAPed would then have to spend their time getting help and talking with professionals, as well as go through the stigma of being ASAPed. What concerns me is that often, these people would never have gotten ASAPed if revenge wasn’t part of the question. The culture of revenge ASAPing at Exeter is an inevitable byproduct of ASAP, making the program itself faulty since people become motivated to ASAP as a consequence rather than trying to get their friends’ help. 

Also, because revenge ASAPs exist, I worry about the accuracy of these ASAPs. I worry that the legitimacy of these cases are affected by false rumors or exaggerated instances rather than what really happened. If a kid were to be falsely accused for the sake of revenge, it is a terrible waste of time and resources that could have been used on someone who actually needed the help. This is another flaw with the ASAPing system that is close to impossible to prevent. 

Though I do think that ASAPing does some good to help people in the school, I think that the whole system needs to be reviewed and tweaked by administrators so that more people are getting ASAPed for the correct motives. By reducing the amount of revenge ASAPs, the stigma surrounding ASAPing will be reduced and more people might be willing to ASAP their friends. But at the end of the day, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink.