The heat is [metaphorically] rising on college campuses
How Generation Z struggles to identify their dangers when they’re already in hot water.
Gone are the days of childhood fables. I imagine if you asked Generation Z to spit out a few fables, they may not be able to identify even one. Calling them out for not knowing any fables is not the premise of this article. I want to speak specifically to one fable to resembles some of the issues Generation Z is dealing with currently. The fable I want to address is about a frog.
The fable is very simple. If you throw a frog into a pot of boiling water, it immediately jumps out to save it’s life. The contradiction is that for a frog that is placed in a pot of warm water that is brought to a boil ends up staying in the pot and boiling itself alive. It doesn’t perceive any dangers by being placed in a non-boiling pot of water, and then subsequently is not alerted of any dangers once the water temperate beings to rise. It cooks itself to death. What a horrible way to go.
No frog was harmed in the process of writing this. I need to go so far as to state that anyone who follows this reading by testing this theory is strongly advised against doing just that. Please, and thank you from me and the frogs. That is not the point of this article.
This article translates perfectly to the state of mind for some college students. They are constantly striving to be perfect. Had they been thrown into a bad situation they would have immediately jumped out. But since they interpreted their situation as being fine, some of them have truly put themselves in harms way. They are metaphorically killing their academic experience. If they aren’t aware enough to withdraw, it could get much worse before it gets better. A lot of young people don’t understand the difference in what it is that they’ve done and how they can get help, compared to those who have tied their sense of self into their academic successes. Once they experience an academic failure, shame washes over them. Instead of admitting they need help, they continue to believe it will get better. That cognitive distortion is completely tied to this same notion as being in a pot of water as the temperature is rising.
Here’s where we need to step in, whether you are a friend, parent, Resident Assistant, Coach, Therapist, Academic Advisor, or even random person on the street. We see what is happening. We see the dangers in the water rising and the young person [read: fabled frog] being completely oblivious to cooking themselves to death. We must intervene. We must help them get out of the pot. We must save them now, and not after encouraging them to finish the semester that they’re about to throw away. And once we do, we must teach them how to identify those dangers for themselves in the future. Our job ends there, as we can no longer enable them. If they end up jumping back into that warm pot of water in the future and repeating history, that’s their own natural consequence. As much as it might hurt to watch, we must let them. But let’s try to redirect the ship now so that doesn’t happen again.
If you are looking for someone to help with this process, find a Therapeutic Consultant to help with getting them the therapeutic and executive functioning supports they need, or a College Consultant to help with them transfer colleges. We are non-judgmental professionals eager to help you, but more importantly help your young adult. The last thing we want is for college students to cook themselves alive.
For questions or comments contact Joanna.
