Freedom and Twitter: Hiding words does not hide reality

There is a new trend in social media called “college confessions,” there have been some high school confessions as well, but not as interesting, where college students put up confessions about their college experience online via Twitter or Facebook page dedicated to their respective university. Most of them, unsurprisingly, are confessions about strange sexual encounters, abuses of alcohol and partying.

Personally, I can say that most of these statements accurately portray exactly what often goes on at college.
Apparently, Maryville College had its own college confessions page. Recently, however, it has disappeared. If you try to search for it, you will come up with only a page for Maryville University, which has no affiliation with Maryville College. Trust me, I have tried.

The confessions page was removed from Twitter because of obvious reasons. What college wants to be given a bad rep as a partying school where the students run wild with drugs, alcohol, and sex? None, really. It is understandable that college administrators want their universities to look clean and inviting, especially to the parents of prospective students who may not want their children to be exposed to all of these negatively viewed things.

To those who share this sentiment, I say: Wake up and grow up.

This is college, a place where young and older adults come together to try and further their own education for a better future. This is not a place for children, and yet that is how we are treated a lot of the time, especially when it comes to what can be broadcasted in social media about our experiences at college. For some unknown reason, it seems that when adults hit a certain age or attain a high working position, they forget what it was like to be young and curious about the real world.

These confessions may seem inappropriate, but they are the realities of adulthood. As we grow into adulthood, we experiment with things like sex and alcohol, and we do things that are stupid. College years are a time for young adults to make mistakes and learn from them, and trying to hide this reality is a futile effort.

Taking down the MC confessions page will not stop students from drinking when they are not supposed to, it will not stop them from possibly dabbling in drugs and it will not stop them from getting their freak on in strange and unusual ways. Social media is one of the best outlets that the newest generations have for expressing themselves. Anonymity is freeing, and the college confessions are just another way to have more fun and share similar stories with others who are probably doing the same things. Weirdness, and inappropriateness, is the glue that holds us together and connects us.

But I guess that college still is not the place where we are all finally treated as adults. It is almost like being back at high school, except you do not have to ask to go to the bathroom. Remember to “stretch your mind,” but not too much or you will make your school look bad.