Each year during university closings due to snow, students will crowd around a couch and watch it burn in anticipation of a day without classes. While I’m sure that there is some amount of thrill that comes with the destruction of a piece of furniture, it’s a really bad idea.
Burning a couch is considered arson, according to the Code of Virginia, and committing arson is considered a felony charge. Setting a piece of personal property on fire can result in a prison sentence between 12 months to ten years depending on that piece of property’s value. This by itself is a huge reason not to set couches on fire. Usually, college students participate in couch burnings to have fun, and they aren’t intending on hurting anyone. Despite their intentions, if caught, their actions would have serious consequences.
Aside from legal ramifications, committing arson is dangerous. Whether it’s a couch or a building, someone could get hurt. All it would take is for someone to stand too close to the fire for their clothes to catch flame. The last thing someone needs during their college career is to be seriously burned or deal with the guilt that comes with causing someone intense pain.
Also, committing a crime like this, which requires police response, uses up valuable public resources. During inclement weather, the necessity for emergency responders increases with traffic accidents and other problems. When the fire department has to go out of their way to put out a couch fire, they are unable to help others who may need it during that time. With this in mind, couch burning is not only dangerous, but it’s also inconsiderate.
If you’re not convinced by the potential harm it could cause, consider the fact that it’s really wasteful to burn a piece of furniture. College students aren’t known for their plethora of wealth. Maybe use the couch for sitting or sleeping instead. If it’s a crappy couch, donate it so that someone less fortunate can use it, but for god’s sake don’t burn it.
University closings are definitely cause for celebration for the stressed-out college kid, but burning couches is not a good way to celebrate. It can be dangerous and hard on a community when people cause public disturbances like this. And seriously, do you really want to have to call your parents to explain to them that you were arrested for lighting up a couch? Have fun, but use your brain on snow days.
