College Kids More Depressed

Article

One of the striking about the students is how hermetic their lives have become. In 1987, 37.9% of incoming college students socialized at least 16 hours per week with friends, while 18.1% spent five hours or less. But by 2014, only 18% of students reported spending at least 16 hours per week socializing with friends — an all-time low. Even so, a third of students believe that it will take more than four years to earn their degrees.

In lieu of face-to-face contact, students are spending more time on social media. But as one freshman from St. John’s University told The Times this week, social media can be stress-inducing drudgery for “students who spend a lot of time on social networks trying to create this picture of who they want to be. Maintaining that takes a lot of effort.”