Going to university in 2020

Are these people in Trafalgar Square not behaving appallingly?

Can anybody spot a mask or social distancing?

University freshers are usually 18 years old. They're just out of childhood and are finding their way in life.

What kind of role models and messaging do they have when this sort of thing is allowed? In any case, there are posters on GN who have actually supported allowing younger people to become infected because "life must go on" and it's only like flu (more people die from road accidents, etc etc) so it's somewhat hypocritical to complain.

SueDonim

I feel very sorry for Scottish students. Even the Scottish government minister Richard Lochhead has said the vast majority have behaved responsibly so it’s unfair to blame them (or their parents) for what’s happening.

Students are being scapegoated and subjected to different rules from anyone else. Some of them are just 17yo and to stop them from returning to their parents is downright cruel. I shudder to think about the MH problems that this is storing up. Not all students are gregarious, outgoing, party animals. A friend took her son to uni today in London and the poor lad cried when she left him.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-54292728

I agree with you 100% and am glad somebody is on the same wavelength.

University is (or should be) a transition from childhood to adulthood.

I went to London University too Ellianne and lived on Oxford Street in my first year. It was a total culture shock for me, as I had never been to London before (apart from uni interviews). Like all freshers, I went a bit mad in the first few weeks and it would have been a totally soul destroying and lonely experience if I hadn't been allowed out of my room.

Just because you coped (I'm sure you're perfect), don't assume everybody else can.

there are posters on GN who have actually supported allowing younger people to become infected because "life must go on", so it's somewhat hypocritical to complain.
I am one of those who strongly supported the return to school, particularly for primary aged children, (not sure I agree Covid19 and its consequences is anything like flu however). Anyway, my experience from primary schools is that younger children are totally compliant with measures like very regular handwashing, staying in designated spaces, staying within their groups. They don't exactly come home and get ready for a night on the tiles socialising with a different group of people in a different setting. At weekends they might be out with their parents, but it is all regulated for them.
In thstcr

Did you not read what I said growstuff?
You totally misunderstood me as usual. I would never have coped IF I had gone to Nottingham or Durham. I turned down Cambridge because I didn't have the necessary social skills to cope in that foreign environment. I may not be perfect, but at least I had/have the sense and humility to realise my own limitations.

Ellianne

^His university has told staff they will be expected to teach or be available to students till 9pm.^
That made me laugh. Is it because most students don't get out of bed until mid day?

No, it’s in the contract (in some institutions at least) that teaching can take place between 9am and 9pm, with protections against this happening more than twice a week on a regular basis. It’s a timetabling issue, nothing to do with assumptions about the idleness of students.

Sorry Sue if what I said came across as being perfect!!! I felt quite sad when you said the young boy had cried when his mother left him, and my post was actually to show how lucky I had been in comparison... to be in my home town to study and have my parents by my side.
Some people like to misunderstand on purpose.

it’s in the contract (in some institutions at least) that teaching can take place between 9am and 9pm, with protections against this happening more than twice a week on a regular basis.
How many hours in total is the contract Doodledog? Not 60 hours a week? Half that would be more acceptable.

Mine says 37.5 hours averaged over the year, with flexibility expected, so it's very vague.

In practice, a lot of the time we work far more than 37.5 hours as they are the hours that are counted - the time spent dealing with students' queries and problems (and for more approachable staff there is a lot of pastoral stuff that is never seen, recorded or counted), the seemingly interminable meetings, Exam boards, etc etc don't get anything like enough recognition.

He’s a London born-and-bred lad, Ellianne but still found it intimidating to leave his home. I recall my own son vomiting with nerves the night before he was due to go to university. It’s a challenge for many young people at the best of times and this isn’t the best of times, sadly.

Glasgow university is trying to come up with a plan. www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-54309775

I recall my own son vomiting with nerves the night before he was due to go to university. It’s a challenge for many young people at the best of times and this isn’t.
Ah Sue, I think for many parents too it's almost as bad as taking them to their first day at school, maybe worse because at least there they get to see them at the end of the day. Challenges all round.

Growstuff @ 12.34 Some students have partied - not all, but all are having to pay for it and the lack of empathy from some who really don't seem to understand what 18 year olds have experienced this year.

The exact same thing could be said for the older people that you referred to in your earlier post. Not all older people flouted the rules but they all had to stay indoors and away from their families. It could be argued that the younger people lack empathy for older people and what they've experienced this year too. My point being that no one section of society has suffered any more, or less, than another. It's crap for all of us.

So worried about the son of a friend, who comes from very rural area of France - who went away from home for first time 3 weeks ago, to Cardiff Uni. He would have had to quarantine on arrival in Uni accom- and then??? He is there to improve his English and knows no-one. Just can't imagine. His parents had no idea how serious the situation is in UK- I mean we would have never agreed to any of ours going abroad in such contitions at the moment.

I went to Glasgow University when I was sixteen. At that time there were only four universities in Scotland, all of them more than 500 years old.

If you went to school in Glasgow, folk would ask "Are you going to THE University?", meaning Glasgow University. We were so parochial that we thought that no-one would ever want to go to Edinburgh, St Andrews or Aberdeen unless they were too stupid to get into Glasgow.

I lived at home with my parents and travelled up to the university every day on the back of the Lambretta scooter belonging to my boyfriend (now my husband of 54 years).

At that time I remember a survey which found that 75% of undergraduate students at Glasgow University were living at home with their families within 30 miles of Glasgow.

Looking back all these years I can see that although we made good friends with fellow students, and some of these friendships have stood the test of time, it was quite different from the student experience that my own children had living away from home in the 1980s and 1990s.

Could we possibly now expect a reversal of the trend for leaving home to go to university?

Looking back all these years I can see that although we made good friends with fellow students, and some of these friendships have stood the test of time, it was quite different from the student experience that my own children had living away from home in the 1980s and 1990s.

Could we possibly now expect a reversal of the trend for leaving home to go to university?

Exactly my thoughts earlier varian. Somehow there was security in the familiarity of one's own hometown. I made many new friends at uni but kept many of the old ones and never forgot my roots. During the day I would be in lectures or in the library and in the evenings I would be out at cookery classes or dancing groups with old buddies. For me it was the best of both worlds.
I believe in other countries students stay much closer to home, we are unusual here that we can't wait to get away at 17 or 18, and not everyone is very mature or discerning at that age. With my own children two coped admirably, one went off the rails.
It almost seems like too much too soon to cope with for some students - the studying, the lifestyle, the debts, the emotions - and Covid19 has made it 10 times worse. Maybe it will make them stronger, who knows?

I don’t know, really. It’s what youngsters in the UK now expect to happen, isn’t it? There’s also the aspect that certain universities specialise more in certain subjects so your own ‘local’ uni doesn’t offer what you want.

Also, will universities even want it, as they’ll lose out on the income from halls?

There’s also the aspect that certain universities specialise more in certain subjects so your own ‘local’ uni doesn’t offer what you want.

This is a very good point that seems to get forgotten about. I think there may be a perception now that every university is equal in all things? I went to University 100 miles from home because the closer ones didn't have such a good reputation in the subject I studied. I also benefitted hugely from being away from home, it made me grow up.

Chewbacca

Growstuff @ 12.34 Some students have partied - not all, but all are having to pay for it and the lack of empathy from some who really don't seem to understand what 18 year olds have experienced this year.

The exact same thing could be said for the older people that you referred to in your earlier post. Not all older people flouted the rules but they all had to stay indoors and away from their families. It could be argued that the younger people lack empathy for older people and what they've experienced this year too. My point being that no one section of society has suffered any more, or less, than another. It's crap for all of us.

Yes, it is, so why do some GNers think they can "blame" anybody from some other group?

Why do they accuse people of being "frightened" when they're just being sensible?

Why do they support the economy over public health?

Why do they think it's fine to flout the rules themselves, but not OK for everybody else?

Why do they parrot what people like Heneghan, Gupta and Sikora say, but moan when people do behave in a way advocated by those three?

Is there a thread about the idiots in Trafalgar Square today?

These idiots are hellbent on harming this country. I wonder how many of these idiots voted for brexcit?

I often hear calls for students to study near home, but don't think it is a good idea at all. For one thing, there would be a rush of people moving near to popular universities, or buying flats for their children to use as application addresses, whilst those who couldn't do this would be disadvantaged. It would be the school catchment thing all over again.

Less well-off areas often benefit hugely from having a student population move in for 9 months of the year. If this didn't happen, pubs, cafes, cinemas, retail outlets etc would lose custom, as would landlords, taxi firms and so on.

People living in areas with no universities on the doorstep would have to rent anyway, which would financially disadvantage them.

As has been said, not all universities are good for all subjects, so those living near an institution better at a subject other than the one they want to study would be disadvantaged. Not all subjects are taught at all universities, so some people would be unable to study their subject of choice without moving away.

Also, whilst students are not a homogeneous mass, and some mature later than others and have other reasons for living at home, in my experience the ones with 'helicopter' parents did less well than those who were able to make mistakes, grow up and be independent. If students all lived at home, the opportunity to find out who they are as individuals would be lost. Most student accommodation is close to (or part of) the campus, and obviously most parents don't live in these areas, so the closeness to friends and ability to attend societies and so on would be lost by those with a commute in and out.

There is far more to consider than just the rent of accommodation, although I appreciate (as a parent myself!) that this is a big expense. (NB - all of the above is speaking in response to the posts suggesting that students should study in 'local' universities, not about the current Covid situation.)

Yes, it is, so why do some GNers think they can "blame" anybody from some other group? Have they? From what I've seen on GN, it's been agreed that this is something that we all have responsibility for. I've not seen anyone scapegoating any section of society.

Why do they accuse people of being "frightened" when they're just being sensible? Because some people don't appreciate the risks involved. But that isn't just on GN that some people hold those opinions is it? There are thousands of COVID deniers. All over the world.

Why do they support the economy over public health? What a naieve question! Because whilst public health matters, so does the economy that pays for and supports public health.

Why do they think it's fine to flout the rules themselves, but not OK for everybody else? Because it's human nature to rebel. As have some students, some mature people and quite a lot of teenagers who don't understand.

Why do they parrot what people like Heneghan, Gupta and Sikora say, but moan when people do behave in a way advocated by those three? I have no idea!

Is there a thread about the idiots in Trafalgar Square today? Dunno! Go have a look!

Good post Doodledog, especially the comments about towns benefitting from student spending.

I spoke to daughter today about grandson going to Uni, no doubt straight into lockdown. Her response surprised me “they are all going to get exposed to virus, might just as well get it over with at the start“.

We will see what happens!.

I wonder if they have an antibody test which shows that they have had covid, would that then mean that it would be safe for them to go home without fear of infecting their family?

The way the Man Met new students are being treated is disgraceful. Many will be young first year students, away from home for the first time. They are effectively being held against their will. The university should be taking care of the students, delivering food and ensuring medical advice and treatment and counselling services are available, rather than focusing on disciplinary action for breaches.