{"id":1475372,"date":"2022-05-14T19:45:58","date_gmt":"2022-05-14T23:45:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1475372"},"modified":"2022-05-14T19:48:13","modified_gmt":"2022-05-14T23:48:13","slug":"mary-kay-linge-why-college-students-are-more-anxious-and-alienated-than-ever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mary-kay-linge-why-college-students-are-more-anxious-and-alienated-than-ever\/","title":{"rendered":"Mary Kay Linge: Why College Students Are More Anxious and Alienated Than Ever"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmary-kay-linge-why-college-students-are-more-anxious-and-alienated-than-ever%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1475372&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cCreating a community of belonging:\u201d that was the core promise at a small upstate college we visited this spring. With weeks to go before the May 1 \u201cdecision day\u201d deadline, administrators were making their final pitch to a roomful of prospective freshmen and their parents.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBelonging means to be at home,\u201d one student declared in a three-minute video that opened the presentation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBeing a family,\u201d another said. \u201cWhere we all accept each other.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is new,\u201d I whispered to my husband.<\/p>\n<p>After 10 years of college-searching with our three older children, we thought we had universities\u2019 messaging down pat. Countless campus tours, college fairs, and stacks upon stacks of slick brochures that packed our mailbox for months touted the premise that college is where ambitious Americans prep for success.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIgnite change,\u201d urged Villanova University in 2014. \u201cBecome essential,\u201d Rhodes College exhorted. Vanderbilt students were \u201cHolding ourselves to higher standards\u201d back then.<\/p>\n<p>But this year, as our youngest son collected his own small forest\u2019s worth of college literature, we noticed a shift.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/mary-kay-family-graduation.jpg\"><\/a><figcaption>Author Mary Kay Linge (in red) and her family celebrate her son Peter\u2019s 2019 graduation from Loyola University New Orleans.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">John Linge <\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cYou belong here,\u201d Johnson &#038; Wales University assured him from the cover of a mailer highlighting on-campus counseling services and therapy dogs. Baylor University boosted the \u201c#BaylorFamily.\u201d Tulane laid claim to the nation\u2019s happiest students. \u201cWe Are Collaborative . . . Grounded . . . Supportive,\u201d soothed Washington University in St. Louis (never mind its <a href=\"https:\/\/source.wustl.edu\/2021\/03\/exceptional-admissions-cycle\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">super-competitive 13% acceptance rate<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>In the wake of the largest enrollment decline in 50 years \u2014 a sharp <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usnews.com\/news\/education-news\/articles\/2021-10-26\/college-enrollment-on-track-for-largest-two-year-drop-on-record\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">6.5% drop<\/a> over the course of the coronavirus pandemic \u2014 colleges are frantically wooing kids to campus, and desperate to keep them happy once they arrive.<\/p>\n<p>Even before COVID-19 forced millions of college students into dismal virtual classrooms, a pair of Harvard researchers found that secondary education had become an increasingly miserable experience for many.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/stressed-student.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/stressed-student.jpg\" alt=\"A recent study found a 50% rise in mental health disorders among college students between 2013 and 2021.\" class=\"wp-image-22235037\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/stressed-student.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/stressed-student.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/stressed-student.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=512 512w\" \/><\/a><figcaption>A recent study found a 50% rise in mental health disorders among college students between 2013 and 2021.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Shutterstock<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>For \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Real-World-College-Higher-Education\/dp\/0262046539?tag=nypost-20&#038;asc_refurl=https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/05\/14\/why-college-students-are-more-anxious-alienated-than-ever\/&#038;asc_source=web\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer noopener\">The Real World of College<\/a>\u201d (MIT Press), out now, Wendy Fischman and Howard Gardner interviewed 2,000 college students, staffers, professors and parents at 10 liberal-arts schools. They were shocked to find that 31% of students on every type of campus \u2013 from exclusive universities like Duke to CUNY\u2019s Queens College and Borough of Manhattan Community College \u2013 felt alienated and anxious. <\/p>\n<p>Their results dovetailed with a new study\u00a0that\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/abs\/pii\/S0165032722002774\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">found a 50% increase<\/a>\u00a0in mental health problems among college students between 2013 and 2021.<\/p>\n<p>Students who lack a sense of belonging\u00a0on their campuses\u00a0are\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.chronicle.com\/article\/how-colleges-can-cultivate-students-sense-of-belonging\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">less likely to graduate<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/eric.ed.gov\/?id=EJ1150864\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">more likely to\u00a0transfer out<\/a>\u00a0after their freshman year,\u00a0multiple studies have found.\u00a0The percentage of those who return\u00a0as\u00a0sophomores, known as a school\u2019s retention rate, is a key metric\u00a0for US News &#038; World Report and other college rankings.<\/p>\n<div class=\"inline-slideshow\" data-component=\"inlineSlideshow\">\n<div class=\"inline-slideshow__header\">\n\t\t<button type=\"button\" class=\"button inline-slideshow__nav inline-slideshow__nav--prev inline-slideshow__nav--disabled\"><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Previous<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t<\/button><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t<span>1<\/span> of <span>4<\/span>\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t<button type=\"button\" class=\"button inline-slideshow__nav inline-slideshow__nav--next\"><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Next<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t<\/button>\n\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"inline-slideshow__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"inline-slideshow__slides\">\n<div class=\"inline-slideshow__slide\">\n<figure class=\"inline-slideshow__slide-figure\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"878\" height=\"585\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/johnson-and-wales.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=878\" class=\"inline-slideshow__image\" alt=\"Johnson &#038; Wales University in Providence, RI offers a particularly robust range of campus wellness services, including dedicated counseling sessions and therapy dogs.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/johnson-and-wales.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=1756 1756w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/johnson-and-wales.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=1317 1317w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/johnson-and-wales.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=878 878w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/johnson-and-wales.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=439 439w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/johnson-and-wales.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all 1024w\" \/><figcaption class=\"meta meta--caption\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJohnson &#038; Wales University in Providence, RI, offers a particularly robust range of campus wellness services, including dedicated counseling sessions and therapy dogs.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><span class=\"inline-slideshow__credit meta meta--byline\">Shutterstock<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"inline-slideshow__slide\">\n<figure class=\"inline-slideshow__slide-figure\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"878\" height=\"585\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/baylor-university.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=878\" class=\"inline-slideshow__image\" alt=\"In their effort to appeal to students&#039; need for connection, Baylor University in Waco, TX launched the \" \/><figcaption class=\"meta meta--caption\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIn their effort to appeal to students&#8217; need for connection, Baylor University in Waco, TX, launched the &#8220;#BaylorFamily&#8221; hashtag.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><span class=\"inline-slideshow__credit meta meta--byline\">Shutterstock<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"inline-slideshow__slide\">\n<figure class=\"inline-slideshow__slide-figure\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"878\" height=\"585\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/tulane-university.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=878\" class=\"inline-slideshow__image\" alt=\"Tulane University in New Orleans is all about happiness \u2014 so much so they claim to possess the nation&#039;s \" happiest students \/><figcaption class=\"meta meta--caption\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTulane University in New Orleans is all about happiness &#8212; so much so they claim to possess the nation&#8217;s &#8220;happiest students.&#8221;\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><span class=\"inline-slideshow__credit meta meta--byline\">Shutterstock<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"inline-slideshow__slide\">\n<figure class=\"inline-slideshow__slide-figure\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"878\" height=\"585\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/washington-uniersity.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=878\" class=\"inline-slideshow__image\" alt=\"While it may be highly-competitive, Washington University in St. Louis still insists it&#039;s \" Collaborative \/><figcaption class=\"meta meta--caption\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWhile it may be highly-competitive, Washington University in St. Louis still insists it&#8217;s &#8220;Collaborative&#8230;Grounded&#8230;(and) Supportive.&#8221;\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><span class=\"inline-slideshow__credit meta meta--byline\">Shutterstock<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>So, as a result, cuddly therapy dogs, goat yoga sessions during midterms, campus wellness centers and \u201cfamily\u201d branding have taken precedence.<\/p>\n<p>And yet, none of those band-aids attack the real problem: a crazy-making internal perfectionism among students, fueled by the mania to get accepted at all. \u201cThe behaviors that got you into this place . . . will kill you,\u201d one English professor told the researchers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was so fixated on where I might get accepted that I never stopped to ask myself: Why? Why am I going to college?\u201d said Katie Abramowitz, a research assistant on Fischman and Gardner\u2019s survey\u00a0project.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/therapy-dogs-campus.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/therapy-dogs-campus.jpg\" alt=\"In their quest to keep students happy, universities are even bringing therapy animals on campus.\" class=\"wp-image-22235196\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/therapy-dogs-campus.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/therapy-dogs-campus.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/therapy-dogs-campus.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=512 512w\" \/><\/a><figcaption>In their quest to keep students happy, universities are even bringing therapy animals on campus.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Tribune News Service via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Blame it on us parents, our pressure-cooker high schools, on the colleges themselves for the sky-high price tags that make us demand visible results \u2013 a great career, a grad-school berth \u2013 for the Tesla-level expenditure necessary to get that diploma.<\/p>\n<p>Whatever the cause, kids have internalized the idea that breakneck r\u00e9sum\u00e9-building is the end, not the means. Students who see college in purely transactional terms, Fischman and Gardner found, are far more likely to fall victim to the alienation and stress that leads them to quit.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/the-real-world-of-college.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"678\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/the-real-world-of-college.jpg\" alt=\"The Real World of College\" class=\"wp-image-22235191\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/the-real-world-of-college.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=1017 1017w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/the-real-world-of-college.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=678 678w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/the-real-world-of-college.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=339 339w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/the-real-world-of-college.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all 1024w\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Even before COVID-19 forced millions of college students into dismal virtual classrooms, a pair of Harvard researchers found that secondary education had become an increasingly miserable experience for many.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>When our son chose to accept the offer from the \u201ccommunity of belonging\u201d (which he asked me not to name), we celebrated \u2014 and sat him down for a talk. Don\u2019t just check the boxes to complete your major, we told him; don\u2019t fill out your schedule with easy As. This is your once-in-a-lifetime chance to stretch and grow, to take intellectual risks, to develop deep learning skills, to become a better thinker, neighbor, parent and citizen.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s the purpose and the promise of a liberal arts education, after all \u2013 and four years from now, it\u2019s what we hope our son will have gained.<\/p>\n<p><em>Mary Kay Linge is a Staten Island mother of four \u2014 three college graduates and one soon-to-be college freshman \u2014 and a New York Post reporter.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cCreating a community of belonging:\u201d that was the core promise at a small upstate college we visited this spring. With weeks to go before the May 1 \u201cdecision<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":498,"featured_media":1483001,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1475372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1475372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/498"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1475372"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1475372\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1483001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1475372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1475372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1475372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}