Reduce loneliness on university campuses

we all Wired for human connection – not through the screen. You need to see, hear and touch other people. This was not easier than on a university campus. There, we can come to ourselves and experience the wonderful stages of life where we understand who we are through our close relationships. That’s up to now. Our fast-paced, media saturated, post-pandemic world, the need for our very natural and hard human Intimate And the interaction of relationships is subject to dangerous effects. Therefore, surgeon General Vivek Murthy declared himself lonely with loneliness, obesity and obesity. smoking as the main cause of death. Mercy then embarked on a “Made To Connect” campus tour, spreading the message about the importance of social connection (Alonso, 2023).

Generation Z is the loneliest generation

Among the loneliest Americans are our young Z-College students. A survey of approximately 1,100 US university and university students reported that nearly two-thirds (64.7%) were feeling lonely. They also found that university students who reported feeling lonely were more than four times more likely to experience severe psychological distress. More specifically, 28.4% of students reported feeling isolated from their peers, 23.1% reported feeling left out, and 21% of students reported not having a relationship (active mind). As we know the intimate connection between loneliness, depressionand suicidethese results require both Note And a call to action.

What is loneliness and how is it different from social isolation?

Loneliness is complicated and often wrong Social Isolation. So, a good place to start a conversation is to distinguish between the two. Modern research shows that social isolation refers to the minimum or lack of daily interactions with other people, while loneliness is a psychological state in which a person’s love needs and sense of belonging is not met (Alonso, 2023). This is just as important as many people Send People who live busy social lives report being lonely. Loneliness is not something we are victims, nor is it something we can place like a suitcase. Loneliness is primarily about the quality of our relationship (Davis, 2023) and the senses that occur when there is genuine reciprocity and mutual worship, whether platonic, family, or romantic.

Especially when dealing with loneliness among college students, we must ask ourselves, “Where are human connections more than university campuses?” Personally, for me, I have very much love for freshman orientation. There were plenty of fun activities there to help the wide-eyed first year get to know each other. In fact, the university cafeteria dining experience was a daily social fix. Returning to the library after a dinner break, I felt “filled” not only in our dinner but also in our lives. Social bubbles A place that felt warm and comfortable.

The feeling of true existence Filled It’s something that’s lacking, and it seems the old cliche of why “feeling alone in the crowd” was not true. Why is loneliness still increasing, as all this heartfelt effort is poured into students by teachers and staff?

Perfect affiliation: “relationship – relationship”

Most suitable universities strive to solve the problem of social isolation with students without addressing underlying loneliness. This is similar to dealing with a Migraine Headaches using aspirin that focuses on symptoms rather than sources.

The source seems to be mainly quality About student relations.

Since the pandemic, we have managed to (to some degree) drive students out of our dorm rooms, but the underlying cause of loneliness is to work harder and more in-depth in our approach. This is because it supports students, It fits– To help them get the real thing A sense of belonging.

Teenager And young adults do almost anything to avoid the unbearable pain of social rejection. Help students understand it fitting It is about obtaining external approval, and can often be achieved through interactive discussions and activities at the expense of changing oneself in some way. I know that for my students, most people were very aware that chronically seeking external approval not only exhausting them, but also inevitably a blow to their own. Self-esteem. This often perpetuates the problem of loneliness, as damaged self-esteem can return to social isolation.

On the other hand, the real belonging is the main We know our own values. When students know their worth, they do not feel the need to change and adapt who they are to meet the needs of the group. They also don’t feel the need to separate. When students find their people this The way, it’s real. True belonging is a deep and meaningful connection. This is what our students need most and we can help them to get there by reflecting their values ​​on all the opportunities given.

Reliability It allows for permanent human connection.

Connected Disconnections: The Effects of Social Media on Student Happiness

The sarcasm of Social MediaThe influence of the film is both amazing and fascinating. Approximately 98% of university students work on social media platforms every day, so those who work more expensive are very important education Understand the impact it has on student well-being (Ellis, 2024).

Social media, such as looking up and connecting with old acquaintances, has several advantages, but innocence to students’ mental health should not be underestimated. We are now exaggerated to use social media. anxietydepression, and FOMO emotions (fear (missed) can exacerbate existing feelings of loneliness and social isolation. Furthermore, not only the number of hours students use social media, but also the way they use it, not the concerns, Avoidance behavior Personal responsibility (school work) and face-to-face social interactions.

Many reasons for the impact of social media Feelings It is based on social comparisons. First introduced by Leon Festinger in the 1950s, Social Comparative Theory It suggests that people assess their personal and social values ​​by measuring how people compare to others (Festinger, 1954). But in the 50s, if technology was not present, we could only long for things that could be seen in real time, such as our neighbor’s new station wagon. When our neighbor pulled her new car into the garage, we weren’t thinking about it anymore. Fast forward to 2025 and students will receive notifications. The brain begins to create associations and compares the very realistic lives of students with backgrounds MAKE-PRETEND-LAND Social media. They now compare with relationships, most days, every day, Body imageresults, Social lifeFor this reason, many of our students are anxious, depressed and lonely, not to mention overstimulating by it.

Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said, “It’s hard to know who is authentic online, it’s hard for people to become themselves online, it’s a recipe for solitude.”

He says, “We cannot emphasize how powerful it is to have a real interaction moment with someone who can hear their voice and see their faces,” and “there is a great advantage that each of us can bring to each other from being able to show up with each other (Chen, B. 2024).”

Perhaps what our students need most from us is to bring them to the basics.