College pressure and student mental health

Economic, Parental, Peer, And Self-Induced Pressures That Affect College Students

This paper examines Economic, Parental, Peer, and Self-induced pressures that affect college students today, as compared to the college students of the 1970's.

The 1970's were a decade in which many changes were taking place in America. Between the Vietnam conflict and the stagnant economy college students had pressures placed on them that their predecessors had not dealt with for several years. Today's college student also faces pressures that seem to be unique to this time in history as well as some that are familiar to those who went to college in the 1970's.

In the last few decades the pressures on college students have come full circle. The things that parents, society and students faced in the 70's are similar in many ways to what they face today. With those similarities there are also differences that are tied to changing times and a changing society.

The similarities have to do with several components of life including economics, family stresses and societal expectations. In the 1970's the nation was clutched in the throes of a recession. Economically the country was at a standstill and while the government scrambled to get it moving again college students pushed forward with the hope it would be fixed by the time they graduated. There were concerns at the time about graduating and being unable to use the degree to find a job and pay back the loans. During that time there was another big concern for college age students. The draft was taking students and sending them overseas to the Viet Nam conflict. There were several majors that would exempt a student from the draft, therefore there were some decisions to be made when one entered college if that was an important issue for the student his or her family. This was a pressure that today's students do not have to deal with, however today's students deal with a new pressure. Terrorism. Today's college student faces something that no one in the history of America has ever had to face. The nation is being attacked, and the current threats point to future attacks from the inside out. College students today are facing a new America when they get out of college and the pressure of that is something that is new to the era.

While the terrorism threat faces today's students they do not yet face a forced draft.