Introduction
I totally agree with William Zinsser on the four pressures working on college students. Just like in the 70s, college students of today face ‘economic pressure, parental pressure, peer pressure and self induced pressure’. I am also in agreement with Zinsser in his argument that ‘there are no villains, only victims’.
As this paper will show, the degree of pressures on college students tends to be higher now than it might have been in the 70s. Additionally, the prominence of given sources of pressure has also shifted. It is hypothesized that while parental pressure was high in the 1970s, economic pressure and self induced pressures have more prominence in the lives of college students today.
College Pressures
Just like in the past, getting a college degree or qualification remains a very expensive affair. Consequently, students are under pressure to pay fees and meet their educational obligations. Moreover, the economic terrain in our country and in most countries of the world has shifted. It is no longer the traditional workers who have money.
Rather, the creative and those who tap into technology make lots of money driving economies up and placing pressure on the underprivileged to think of how to improve their economic welfare. This implies that while college students in the 70s had to deal with economic pressures relating to high cost of education, current crop of college students have to deal with high cost of education and pressure related to being creative or not being able to tap into a fast shifting economy.
To make matters worse, recent economic slumps and credit meltdown related challenges only imply increased difficulty in accessing credit facilities. Government support for students has relatively expanded since the 1970s but pressures the economy make government interventions largely wanting. Jobs are hard to come by and as unemployment bites, fees related complications are compounded.
Although parental pressure on children has been decreasing over the years, parental pressure on students still remains. Parents expect value for money spent on children’s education. They want children to work hard and meet given minimum educational standards and requirements. Parents expect students to undertake certain majors. All these expectations exert considerable pressure on college students.
However, present day parents are more liberal in their attitudes compared to their 1970’s compatriots. Students are expected to exercise their free will and be more responsible towards their own success in life. Factors such as changes in how economy runs, best paying jobs, how to succeed in life and beliefs about wealth creation have contributed a lot towards lowering parental pressure on college students.
Peer pressure remains an important aspect in a college student’s life. Peer pressure is very high in our highly consumption driven economy. The masters of consumerism are always producing new gadgets and goods with appeal to college students. Students are under pressure to match their peer in terms of what gadgets they have or own.
Most crucially, competition among college students has transformed from focus on academic excellence or college activities to exploits in the world of trade and even sport on the world arena. There are so many young billionaires and millionaires around. There are so many young achievers in our world of today. This has an influence on individual college students in terms of what they do with themselves.
Coupled with increasingly liberalist attitudes, college students have great influence on each other in terms of how they live their lives. Peer approval plays a more critical role in determining what is a considered right or wrong among college students of today than was the case in the 1970s. Parents of today tend to be liberals and even where the exhibit rigid traditional attitudes, students are more rebellious towards traditional values and principles.
Finally, the pressures and challenges in the world of today and numerous and very diverse. The world of today is a fast changing reality where nothing is given. The things and processes that traditionally worked no longer work. Globalization has opened new frontiers and also opened a Pandora’s Box of challenges. In such like circumstances, each individual college student is personally much challenged. A key question for the youth of today is how to make quick Buicks or get rich very quickly.
Anchored on information technology, quite a number of young people have made it big. The idea that traditional ways of life no longer work have also provided impetus. Consequently, personal or self induced pressure is very high for present day college students. While students in the 1970s were under pressure to get good grades, college students of today have high self induced pressure geared towards creativity and building systems to tap into opportunities in society.
Conclusions
From the foregoing discussions, it is clear that the pressures students of the 1970s endured are the same as those faced by students of today. However, the prominence of pressures like parental pressure has waned while self-induced pressures have gained prominence. Additionally, changing socio-economic circumstances have transformed the expression of or how the different pressures register.