The dilemma over underage drinking at the University of Hawai'i has sparked a debate over when college students are accorded any adult rights to privacy. The bottom line is that college is the time for some loosening in the ties that bind.

The issue has surfaced in a churning debate on the Manoa campus over the influence of the Parents and Friends of UH Manoa PTA, the first college-level parent group to be chartered under the National PTA.

Students are chafing over the group's advocacy for the dorm drinking policy, in which parents of students under 21 would be notified about every infraction of dorm rules.

A petition seeking to dissolve the PTA is unfair and naive — parents can't be stopped from organizing and testifying on important issues. Nor should they be. Many parents, who are footing a hefty share of their college student's tuition and expenses, rightly believe their voices should be heard.

In fact, before the fall term the PTA has held forums designed for so-called "helicopter parents" who hover over college-age children. By working to educate parents on the fine art of letting go, the group probably was serving the interests of students who now oppose it.

Dorm residents who are under 21 surely must yield to UH authority — and the law — on the issue of illegal drinking. Officials are understandably concerned about their liability for the actions of college students. For example, universities have been targets of wrongful-death lawsuits by families of students who commit suicide.

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, the federal law that describes student privacy rights, does not restrict parental notification in cases of emergencies.

Still the protest illuminates a legitimate grievance by the students: They deserve some independence as they approach adulthood. Part of the college experience includes exercising some degree of independence and personal growth.

It's true that most undergraduates at Manoa have parents who live on O'ahu — most of them either providing room and board or paying for it. Their grown children can't claim full adulthood until they've weaned themselves off financial dependence.

But the process must begin at some point, and the university should look for opportunities that let students solve their own problems rather than to phone home.