Many students after college are excited about joining university because of what they hear others say about the freedom they enjoy at university. University students’ compulsive need to experiment is beyond anything comprehensible. To them, the University living experience means no rules, no nagging, no curfew and being in control of your decisions. Unfortunately, most of our Universities are over saturated with peer pressure which is accompanied by drug and alcohol abuse, as well as illicit affairs with the supposed working class for material gain.
A quick survey among lecturers revealed that students’ performance declines at university. But is the freedom that comes with joining university responsible for this? The environment at university is quite different from that in secondary schools. University is a free world where students are expected to manage their own time and lifestyle, but on the contrary most misuse this liberty.
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The reason some students deteriorate in performance is because of the excitement of getting into a new environment. This is climaxed by the independence that they are accorded which many do not use to their benefit. You find a student who was used to being pushed to class for lessons no longer has any one to push them, this automatically will affect their performance negatively.
When we receive the freshmen, their backgrounds, characteristics, and reasons for attending vary widely; surprisingly, they usually have one goal in common: getting education. In fact if you ask first year students what it takes to make a successful transition to University, their intuitive response is, “brains and hard work.” However, their intuition does not match up their behavior after joining University. Their thirst for knowledge and unswerving ambition soon takes a nosedive when they come to reality with University life.
Before long, they join the bandwagon and begin missing classes, their dressing style change, even the religious ones drop their pious ways and embrace the campus carefree secular life that scoffs religion. Some students may endure unhealthy friendships and romantic relationships at this stage. Others will embrace the negative components of peer pressure in University life.
Alcohol and drug use is increasing steadily on our University campuses, especially among the male students. Such students commonly have a decline in academic performance, drop classes regularly, and practice sexual promiscuity. Attempts to quit may be futile if such a student remains in the same party environment. The best option for a student in this position is to disassociate with his disreputable friends and see a counselor.
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The female students are however attracted to the lives lived by the rich girls on campus. Lest we forget, university life can be very challenging especially if you are broke. Naturally, ladies want to adorn different clothes, shoes and hairstyles. They want to have trendy handbags and wear expensive perfumes. A smart phone and a laptop are invaluable here. To them, these define basic needs. This new found freedom sometimes pushes them to wear tight short skirts/dresses that barely cover the subject matter – one must wonder how our male colleagues are expected to cope with this. In a bid to fit in such an exotic society, they succumb to sexual relations with money loaded predators.
We can still advice our university students accordingly using a different approach. We can still advice our university students accordingly using a different approach.
Building a good rapport with the students will help them open up to you in times of need. We can also encourage them to participate in club activities and sports- keep them engaged. Equally important is incorporation of basic life skills within our lectures- taking the class outside the four walls of a lecture hall. Of course we should never underestimate the power of prayer: submit them in the hands of the Most High.
Students should be guided on how to manage their lives in the new independent environment. As well as how to balance their social and academic life.