Whiteboards are a college staple and if you do not have one, you wish you did. Those of us who proudly display our plastic board of white beneath our peepholes have faith that our whiteboards will lead us to social expansion. Our whiteboards will bring us closer to our neighbors and our university through words and smiley faces. Having a whiteboard is like having a homely Facebook; as much as we deny its importance, if we did not have one, we would just be unconnected and thus uncool.

What is our dry-erase board bringing us though, when all we find on its smooth shiny surfaces are pictures of penises and sentences ripe with curse words? Words the person who wrote them ironically did not know how to use. Perhaps we find sadness, despair or embarrassment in this gross misuse of a well-liked college tradition. Maybe we find it entertaining? It is even possible that you have never been victim to this type of abuse thus far. Take heart those of you lucky ones, it is going to happen to you one day; it could even be happening to you as you read this.

Some of you may be wondering, "what is this domestic whiteboard abuse?" Well, it is exactly what you think. The signs are subtle and slow, normally beginning with defamation and graffiti. It appears initially as the mere writings of silly "notes" from anonymous authors or the purely innocent drawings of naked stick figures and disfigured smileys. It though descends into more serious and aggravated assaults upon the sanctity of your whiteboard. The stealing of your markers, writing of more serious and sometimes hurtful insults and pictures of things that do not make sense and should not be on the outside of your door. Tolerance of these behaviors can ultimately result in the untimely ripping off of your dry erase board from its perch.

Do not fret though, there are ways one may protect oneself against such abuse! Keep your dry erase board markers attached to a string attached to the inside of your door to be harder for these drunken or insensitive individuals to steal. An even more intense strategy would be to keep your markers inside your room when you are not going to be present. Erase immediately any remarks on your board that make you uncomfortable. Be proactive against the abuse: watch for the signs and you will be free of domestic whiteboard abuse.