Are College Students Less Religious Nowadays?
College comes with its experiences and some are exciting while others leave you with more to think about. Life in college is a bit different than the one in high school. In the latter, teachers are strict and students often get punished for many things which can be considered petty in college. With freedom comes many choices and while some lead to good memories, others only help to reinforce the topic of this article.
After high school, students always want to enjoy the new found freedom in college and here is where many dreams and career paths get destroyed. College presents every student with an opportunity to improve themselves. However, it also gifts one with the power to choose and this is where things get murky for many students. Without a solid foundation, this power can destroy a person and with a plethora of activities and clubs at one’s disposal, many forget their religious backgrounds. Cheating becomes a norm, morals degraded, and with time, students even start questioning the very essence of religion.
Indicators that Students are Less Religious Nowadays
Cheating in Colleges
When people hear the phrase cheating in colleges, they usually think of exams. However, over the years, cheating in college has evolved and currently, there are different ways through which a student can cheat. One way a student can cheat is by using other people to do their work. For example, cases where students have paid other brighter individuals to sit for their exams have been rampant. College can be challenging but some students simply lose the essence of struggling and thus look for other means of passing their exams.
Secondly, students also use essay services which have increased in number over the years. Essay services such as essayzoo.org usually write essays for students at a fee. While at times students have no option but seek their help, these platforms also help to ascertain the fact that students have become less religious nowadays. Having your work done by others is a form of cheating but students have become used to these services and some never even bother to study because they know that they will simply spend a few dollars and still ace their essays.
Finally, students cheat when they plagiarize and use other people’s work without acknowledging the original authors. Writing essays is a big part of college life and sometimes, the challenges are hard or you are required to use several sources. To some students, this is an opportunity to expand their perspective and incorporate other people’s work and knowledge in theirs. However, others copy and use other people’s work as it is and fail to acknowledge or include a reference page. This is not only wrong but also goes a long way in explaining how students’ morals are degraded.
Moral Degradation
As stated earlier, college students cherish their new-found freedom and therefore, seek to exploit and utilize it maximally. House parties and frequent visits to clubs often become a norm as different students immerse themselves in fun activities as they seek to quench their thirst. As reports have indicated, while at these parties, students drink, use drugs, and engage in all sort of obscenities. Religious inclinations often mean less in such gatherings and everyone just seems to have “fun” while donning the infamous YOLO shirts and t-shirts.
Trying out new things is also common in college. As stated earlier, college presents you with an opportunity and unfortunately for some students this is an opportunity to try new things. It is while in college that some students start taking alcohol, some start smoking, while others start using drugs such as cocaine. All of this is done in the spirit of trying new things and living as per the YOLO decree. However, what many fail to realize is that they are becoming less religious and are closely adopting their own set of principles and beliefs.
Students Questioning Religion More
Knowledge is essential to understand how the universe works and the different systems in it. It also gifts you the chance to understand different concepts and to become more curious about the world. At a college level, students meet people from all walks of life and while some subscribe to similar doctrines, others simply subscribe to different dogmas. Such a situation can be confusing to a person. However, to others, this is an opportunity to learn and to understand how other people live and why they subscribe to different principles in life.
It is a good thing to learn and to understand different cultures and social structures. However, college students often have the tendency of questioning everything including religion. While this is not wrong and is the essence of going to school, others reach the point of disputing their own principles. Some question the values of their religion while others reach the point of disputing their own beliefs or the society’s belief system. This creates rebels in people and slowly, if the questions these students have are not answered, many lose interest in religion.
Finally, some students often have great expectations in religion. However, some of these students fail to realize that religion is about faith. Gradually, as life becomes more challenging, some of these students find fewer answers in religion and therefore, loosen the grip on religion and its values.
Author: Adam Smith