Trends in Campus Ministry & Culture

The following excerpts are from the Ivy Jungle Network's "Trends in Student Ministry, Culture and Higher Education"

Book Explores the “Hooking Up” College Culture: In her new book, Unhooked: How Young Women Pursue Sex, Delay Love and Lose at Both, writer Laura Sessions explores how the current “hooking up” culture on college campuses today leaves so many women broken and unfulfilled. Sessions first began writing about the sexuality of Gen Y in the late ‘90’s when she covered the increase of oral sex among young teens. Now many of those same kids have gone to college – having only further developed a view of relationships in which sex is largely casual and detached from any serious relationship. When college students “hook up,” both parties understand that whatever happens physically, no further relational implications or obligations are involved. However, she notes that the freedom to “hook up” and “unhook” as casually as they change songs on their iPod is taking a toll on a generations’ emotional health and their views of relationships in general. (MSNBC.com March 5, 2007)

Drugs and Drinking on the Rise: The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse has released a report that shows a significant increase in drug use and frequent binge drinking on college campuses. Compared with 15 years ago, most forms of drug use have increased. Of particular note were the increases in prescription pain medications, marijuana, and cocaine. While the percentage of students who drink has remained flat, the number of people who report frequent binge drinking (three or more times in the previous two weeks) increased to nearly 23%. In addition addiction rates outpace the general population with 22.9% of college students exhibiting alcohol or drug addiction – compared with just 8.5% of all people age 12 and older. (USA Today March 15, 2007 3A)

Teens and Social Networking Sites: According to the Pew Internet Project, more than half of all teens ages 12-17 have created a personal profile on a social networking site. Of those, 85% use MySpace. Older girls (ages 15-17) use social networking sites the most, where 70% say they have a profile. Of those with profiles more than half check and/or update their profile at least once a day. 91% say they use the sites to stay in touch with friends they see frequently – 82% say they use them to stay in touch with friends they rarely see in person. (Pew Internet Memo January 7, 2007)

Colleges Banning Smoking: An increasing number of college campuses are passing outright bans on smoking on campus. According to Americans for Nonsmokers Rights, nearly 50 college campuses have already gone smoke-free, including a number of large state schools such as Indiana, University of North Dakota, and Youngstown State. The bans have received predictably mixed reviews. 31% of college students smoke, compared with about 25% of the overall population. (USA Today March 2, 2007 A1)

Getting an ‘F’ in Religion: Americans are increasingly uniformed about religion. More than half can’t name five of the Ten Commandments. 50% of high school seniors think that Sodom and Gomorrah were married. In his book, Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know – and Doesn’t, Boston University religion professor Stephen Prothero argues that Americans are woefully ignorant of the Bbile – and other religious teachings. He believes this is a problem because religious literacy helps people understand literature, history, and current events. Only 8% of high school classes offer any sort of Bible class – a testimony to the interpretation of the separation of church and state. He argues for all students to take a world religions course to better understand the world today. For those short on time, Prothero recommends a quick list of readings on Judaism and Christianity (Genesis and Matthew), Mormonism (the “For Dummies” series); Islam (parts of the Quaran) Hinduism (Vsiwantathan’s Am I a Hindu . . ); and Buddhism (Lopez’s The Story of Buddhism) (USA TODAY March 8, 2007 2D)

Georgia School Sued by Expelled Christian Group: Savannah State University has joined the ranks of other universities that have found themselves in court. SSU faces a suit from the Alliance Defense Fund for Academic Freedom and the National Legal Foundation, who both represent the Christian group Commissioned II Love. The group was expelled from campus last year when the university charged it with “harassment” for sharing the gospel with others on campus and “hazing” for a foot washing ceremony in its worship service. The group claims the university has denied the group First and Fourteenth amendment rights that are explicitly protected in the student handbook. (Associated Content.com March 5, 2007)