As a society, we consistently question dilemmas like phone addiction and extremist media. But have you ever thought that the issue might be where our nation’s youth are growing their minds? Today, more than ever, college campuses are becoming a breeding ground for political polarization. This article will discuss just that, exploring the central reasons as to why college students are largely susceptible to mental distress due to a lack of political tolerance on campus.
In a culture where agreement with LGBTQ+, drugs and alcohol, and hyper independence become normalized, this becomes an issue for anyone whose personal beliefs counteract the possibility of doing so. The consequence of this is that students often report feeling harassed for their political views, especially those on the conservative side. In fact, the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics reported that “One-third of college students are uncomfortable sharing their political views on campus; young Democrats are more comfortable and more likely to be politically engaged.” This is just one example of how colleges have been plagued by polarization and are unintentionally patronizing political groups that contribute to campus diversity. And while colleges strive to push intellectualism, they may be falling behind in pushing independent-minded, bipartisan cooperative thinking.
This harmful extreme partisanship is not just an idea. It takes a living toll on students’ mental health. The National Library of Medicine recently published a report on the association between student mental health and campus polarization and found that polarization had the same negative effect on mental health as does socioeconomic status. However, the issue of polarization cannot be solved through tangible currency like economic dilemmas, and it can only be healed through cooperative learning when it comes to politics. Interventions for this issue at college campuses could look like organized planning for balanced educational programs when it comes to bipartisan learning, and a simple kind conversation with an opposing peer for students.
We must keep in mind, however, that those in power are the most effective at solving dilemmas. Teaching professionals or students should not hold all the weight of fixing polarized campuses. Our nation’s political powerhouses should be placing focus on unity in order to set an example for young adults. Parents raising children who are going to be college-aged soon should be placing emphasis on friendly disagreement rather than alignment with a specific set of views. The campus we create is the result of many different factors, from before college, in academia, and from the older adults who shape the country’s formal politics.
