Rex Thomas' Home Page

Introduction

Many of my college and high school friends are a part of a social networking site like Facebook. It is a way for people to reconnect with friends or family members who live far away. There are many different social networking websites, but among them, Facebook is probably one of the more popular ones. Users can post pictures for others to see, write on each other's pages, and more. Unfortunately, many people blame Facebook for students' poor grades in school. However, Facebook isn't the only activity that distracts students from their studies. For myself and a lot of my friends, college is the first time that we are living on our own. In the hype of being independent, I have noticed that students also get involved in alcohol consumption. This is another activity that can also have a negative affect on a college student.

Facebook Personal Experience

From Personal Experience alone, I can say that the use of Facebook has had a negative effect on my grades and work ethic. I made my Facebook page when i was in the 9th grade. At first, I did not use it a lot because I really didn't know how it worked. After about a month or so, i noticed that I would sign on to Facebook a lot more and spend a ridiculous amount of time doing absolutely nothing on it! Facebook also caused my GPA to drop. In 9th grade, I started out with a GPA in the 3's. By the time i graduated high-school, my GPA was a 2.8.

Whenever I would sit down and try to do my homework, I kept getting distracted thinking about if I had any new notifications, or if any of my friends were on Facebook chat. My work ethic dropped as well. Before my Facebook, I could sit down and do homework and studying without any distractions. Ever since Facebook, I spent so much time on it that by the time I got off, I was either too tired or too lazy to do my homework.

Aryn Karpinski's Study

Jeffrey Young is a writer for "The Chronicle of Higher Education." The Chronicle of Higher Education interviewed a doctoral research student from Ohio State University named Aryn Karpinski, who conducted a study of the effects of Facebook on the grades of college students (Young). Karpinski surveyed 102 undergraduate students and 117 graduate students at Ohio State University (Young). The students who had a Facebook page said they had a GPA inbetween 3.0 and 3.5 (Young). The students who did not have a Facebook page said they had a GPA in between 3.5 and 4.0 (Young). Although this is not a huge difference, it is still noticeable.

Alcohol's Effect on College Students

Alcohol consumption is another activity that college students might involve themselves in. For many college students, it is their first time being on their own. Having this type of freedom might cause students to make decisions like whether or not to drink alcohol. Donne E. Shalala from the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism wrote an article about college students' drinking habits. She stated that college students often times binge drink, which is having more than 4 drinks per sitting for women and 5 drinks per sitting for men (Shalala). Students who binge drink are likely to do many things they would not normally do. For example, they are more likely to damage property, get into trouble with the cops, miss classes, have painful hangovers and much more (Shalala).

According to Shalala, research indicates that students in college drink alcohol because they believe it is a stress reliever and that it will relax them (Shalala). Students who join fraternities and sororitites also drink more than others (Shalala). Parties that are hosted by fraternities usually have lots of alcohol at them, causing the students to drink more (Shalala). Students who drink also put themselves at risk of unprotected, unwanted sexual relations (Shalala). This is something that will greatly effect a college student, adding on addition worries and stress.

From my personal experience, I have seen the negative effects of alcohol on students. Many of my friends from high school who used to never drink have started drinking and being much lazier when it comes to school work. They always want to go to a party, or to the bar, thinking it is so cool. I have also personally dealt with alcohol in my first semester of college. My roommates and I were caught with alcohol in our dorm, causing us to get a strike. Ever since this event happened, I have felt a lot more stressed out in school, and a lot more depressed. I feel like an idiot for my actions, and have definitely learned my lesson. Once my 3 months disciplinary probation is over, i hope this unwanted stress leaves me.

Conclusion

I believe that Facebook does have a negative effect on college students. As shown from Karpinski's study, it caused students to have a lower GPA than those who do not have a Facebook. However, Facebook is not the only thing that has a negative effect on college students. Many students get involved in the consumption of alcohol, which can possibly lead to unprotected, unwanted sex and other things like laziness, trouble with the law, missing more classes, and more. From my personal experience, getting caught with beer and getting that strike has caused me a great amount of unwanted stress and depression. So, although Facebook might effect a student's grades, things like alcohol can cause another form of stress.

Work Cited