College Commentary
Silvio Laccetti
Issue date: 9/11/06 Section: Opinions
The money, hype and lure of big-time athletics send the wrong message to our society - and to the world community - as to what college is all about. In particular, the televised world of sports-crazed fans ties in with what is perhaps the most insidious function of contemporary colleges: the extension of adolescent dependence in millions of young people. The public should never underestimate the role of parties, drinking bouts or spring break hijinks as portrayed in the print, media, movies, TV and beer commercials.
For far too many individuals, college has become an adventure in hedonism. In this mode of operation, college keeps our youth occupied and out of the economy, which has no place for them anyway. For a growing number, adolescence continues even after college graduation - witness the post-baccalaureate migration home! The most important new social function colleges have acquired in the post-World War II period has been career preparation. Go to college so that you can get a good job.
Of course, preparation for a productive life, for example in the ministry, has long been an aim of higher education, but the narrowing vocationalism and economic imperative of it all is something more recent. The globalizing, high-tech service economy demands post-secondary training. The American Institutes for Research survey suggests that only about 38 percent of ready-to-graduate students can "perform complex tasks" across the board. Thirty-eight percent is a failing grade.
We must seek to increase the required number of potentially talented students drawn from every class and sector of society. But to accomplish any fundamental change, we must first be able to read the handwriting on the wall.
For far too many individuals, college has become an adventure in hedonism. In this mode of operation, college keeps our youth occupied and out of the economy, which has no place for them anyway. For a growing number, adolescence continues even after college graduation - witness the post-baccalaureate migration home! The most important new social function colleges have acquired in the post-World War II period has been career preparation. Go to college so that you can get a good job.
Of course, preparation for a productive life, for example in the ministry, has long been an aim of higher education, but the narrowing vocationalism and economic imperative of it all is something more recent. The globalizing, high-tech service economy demands post-secondary training. The American Institutes for Research survey suggests that only about 38 percent of ready-to-graduate students can "perform complex tasks" across the board. Thirty-eight percent is a failing grade.
We must seek to increase the required number of potentially talented students drawn from every class and sector of society. But to accomplish any fundamental change, we must first be able to read the handwriting on the wall.
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