College Freshmen Report Record-Low Levels of Emotional Health

[marmar]

from the Chronicle of Higher Education:




January 27, 2011
College Freshmen Report Record-Low Levels of Emotional Health

By Lauren Sieben


This year's freshmen reported record-low levels of emotional health, according to the latest results of the University of California at Los Angeles's national survey of first-year undergraduates. At the same time, more students gave themselves high marks for ambition to achieve.

College counselors say the two are clearly related, as students put more pressure on themselves to excel.

The percentage of students reporting good or above-average emotional health dropped from 55.3 percent in 2009 to 51.9 percent in 2010, according to "The American Freshman: National Norms for Fall 2010" survey. That marks the lowest point since 1985, when the survey first asked the question.

....(snip)....

"College tuition is higher, so they feel the pressure to give their parents their money's worth in terms of their academic performance," she says. "There's also a notion, and I think it's probably true, that the better their grades are, the better chance they have at finding a job."

Women were less likely than men to report good emotional health—45.9 percent of women, compared with 59.1 percent of men. Sharon Mitchell, the director of counseling services at the University at Buffalo, says the gender difference likely has to do with how girls and boys are socialized from a young age. ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://chronicle.com/article/College-Freshmen-Report/126068/

[seabeyond]

1. we have had a huge as social experiement with our youth last decade.... of course

there are going to be consequences.