Every year, when recently graduated high school students arrive at college, they encounter a somewhat intense kind of culture shock. When students arrive at college dormitories, they find numerous kinds of attractions that will not benefit their studies, and that they aren’t used to. There are numerous articles on this topic, and they state that there are mainly four types of distractions in college dormitories, these include outside noises in your dorm and not being able to find anywhere else to study on campus, the four B’s of distractions, procrastination due to addiction to technology, and lack of sleep.
One of the most common distractions and difficulties that college students encounter is not being able to find good study areas, and being distracted in their own rooms do to neighbors playing loud music. An article from The Times & Transcript states that it is often very hard for students to find places where to study, but that college dormitories are definitely not compatible with studying. The student who wrote the article recommends that students find a place where to study, that is outside of the dormitories, even if it is a quiet nook in campus where you could hide and study. In the article he claims, “Perhaps a next-door neighbour feels like blasting party music at three o'clock in the afternoon, and then you're stuck in an even worse predicament - trying to focus on the BNA Act while Ke$ha's auto-tuned slurs seem to penetrate right through your dorm room walls” (Tess Allen, 2012). Another type of distraction that may be the most serious, includes the four B’s of distractions, which are beaches, booze, buds, and bikinis. These vary between schools and locations, but alcohol, sex and drugs, which derive from the four B’s are extremely big distractions for college students. “Although I live in a wellness dorm, where drinking and smoking are completely prohibited, things of that nature do happen behind closed doors. Don't fall victim, however, to playing catch-up on your homework because that is definitely where your course load can turn from easy to unbelievably hard” (Pablo Paz, 2006). This article was published in The New York Post in 2005. Its anonymous author was very honest in that he didn’t leave any detail out. He compared college life to movies and stated, “COLLEGE is exactly like it is in the movies. Well, movies like "Animal House" and "Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle." The author described that in his hall in NYU, everyone was social with each other because they were “drinking their faces off.” He also described sex being a very big part of his life in college, and instead of mentioning studying; he stated that his priority was finding a fake ID. There are also articles that support and certify that the activity stated above does not help studying habits at all. “Substance-free dorms, she said, offer fewer distractions” (Jon Marcus, 1996). An article in The Union Leader deeply explores the topic of sex as a distraction by stating that schools that don’t have co-ed dorms are better for education and studying because the students will always have the social distraction outside of their dormitories, but it is worse when the distraction is also inside, where they live. “Maybe we suffer from a lack of imagination, but the only added flexibility from co-ed dorms that comes to mind is a greater accessibility and selection of which person to spend the night with” (David Allen and Jesse O. Kurtz, 2007). This article was written in response to the fact that their school, which previously had only same sex dormitories, was changing its policies and traditions. The students in the school that were interested in learning and were worried about their college careers were against this change. There are other articles that support the same point, including an article from Wall Street Journal Abstracts. This article states, “Colleges need to return to single-sex dorms to combat dangerous distractions of binge drinking and casual sexual encounters” (John Garvey, 2011). |
Probably the most common and most intense type of distraction for college students in the 21st century includes technology. An article in the Santa Fe New Mexican talked about how hard it is for students to study for finals while they have distractions such as an Xbox. This article was written by a student that was very behind on all of his schoolwork, which wasn’t even that much to begin with, due to the fact that he was addicted to the school’s Xbox and couldn’t stop using it. He stated this case with the following connection, “Out of nowhere, distractions, temptations and video games creep up and take over like a bad case of mono, and if you know anything about mono, you probably know college dorms are breeding grounds for the "kissing disease" (Connor Sanchez, 2005). Connor also stated the following, “Distractions tend to hit hardest during finals as students become increasingly anxious for the semester to end,” which is actually a fact that many college students can relate to. Although the Xbox was proven to be a big distraction for college students, apparently TV is not. This was proven in the following, “Cable boosters claim getting service doesn't hurt students' grades. Bill McCartney, a housing official at Marquette University in Milwaukee, did a survey of 280 students' grade point averages before and after cable came to their dorms last year. He found no change in their report cards; most students watched less than 10 hours a week” (Leslie Brody, 1989).
The last major reason while college students don’t succeed that is connected with living in dormitories is lack of sleep. While in college, many students don’t get the amount of sleep that is necessary, and substitute sleep with things such as coffee, which are not recommended. This is aspect was studied in The Daily Gleaner. In the article, the following is stated, “With little sleep and lots of stress, students are vulnerable to irritability and depression, says Colin Shapiro, director of the Youthdale Child and Adolescent Sleep Centre in Toronto. Existing conditions such as diabetes, chronic fatigue and asthma can also worsen with sleep deprivation” (Amy Fuller, 2009). An article in the Teaneck Suburbanite focuses on this topic. The article includes the following statement, “Countless studies have shown that people who get the right amount of sleep are physically and emotionally healthier - which is of course is something we all want for our children. Getting better grades is just the icing on the cake” (Anonymous, 2012). All in all, the articles mentioned above, either written by students, parents, or professors all agree on one thing. Distractions in college are a serious problem that distracts many students from their studies, which is what they actually go to college for. These distractions are mainly associated with living in college dormitories. The most common of these problems include sex, drugs, alcohol, lack of sleep, and technology. |