Children are growing up today thinking that college is one big party and class is an afterthought. Thousands of kids this year will start their college careers but never end them because of excess partying, playing sports, clubs and other extracurricular activities. All the while the kids that do graduate (most go more than 4 years) are increasingly coming away with a degree that is bought (usually paid for by their parents) rather than earned.
Studies show that the kids that pay their way through college take it more seriously because they have a stake in their education. On the flip side the kids that have their school paid for tend to party more and care less about school. It is a sad trend that has major implications down the road.
College graduates are expected to be the leaders of our future. Taking good jobs in companies and organizations that support our country and grow our economy. But today college graduates are showing more and more that they leave college with the same amount of knowledge as when they got their, they just took a 4 to 6 year vacation.
It is not just the kids themselves whom are at fault. The colleges themselves spend more on student athletes than the average student simply because they make them more money. Degrees and courses have been watered down to the point where instead of college being a "full time" job it can be a part time event and socializing becomes more important.
Now I know the top tier schools are challenging, but your average college where the majority of students go has created an environment where getting a degree is easy with the end result being that the student did not learn while being there.
There are no easy solutions, you can't make a person learn, they have to be willing to put in the time and effort to do it themselves. You can make class attendance mandatory but beyond that you can't forcibly get a student out of bed. The change has to come from within our culture. We need to emphasize learning as a path to success. You should go to college with the mindset that you will learn something and grow as an individual not have a good time and get a degree on the side.
Further Reading:
-http://ideas.time.com/2013/01/23/does-college-put-kids-on-a-party-pathway/
Studies show that the kids that pay their way through college take it more seriously because they have a stake in their education. On the flip side the kids that have their school paid for tend to party more and care less about school. It is a sad trend that has major implications down the road.
College graduates are expected to be the leaders of our future. Taking good jobs in companies and organizations that support our country and grow our economy. But today college graduates are showing more and more that they leave college with the same amount of knowledge as when they got their, they just took a 4 to 6 year vacation.
It is not just the kids themselves whom are at fault. The colleges themselves spend more on student athletes than the average student simply because they make them more money. Degrees and courses have been watered down to the point where instead of college being a "full time" job it can be a part time event and socializing becomes more important.
Now I know the top tier schools are challenging, but your average college where the majority of students go has created an environment where getting a degree is easy with the end result being that the student did not learn while being there.
There are no easy solutions, you can't make a person learn, they have to be willing to put in the time and effort to do it themselves. You can make class attendance mandatory but beyond that you can't forcibly get a student out of bed. The change has to come from within our culture. We need to emphasize learning as a path to success. You should go to college with the mindset that you will learn something and grow as an individual not have a good time and get a degree on the side.
Further Reading:
-http://ideas.time.com/2013/01/23/does-college-put-kids-on-a-party-pathway/