Going to college is commonly cited as a time when one’s life undergoes great change. You finally become an “adult,” you live on your own and you take care of your responsibilities.
However, the change I noticed the most was in the community. Walking around campus, I see people out on the grass reading, studying or hanging out with friends. Some sit outside to eat while others play sports on outdoor courts. College campuses are designed to be more social, with amenities and housing all local and walkable.
This atmosphere is my favorite part of my new life as a college student. It’s always a joy to bump into a friend at the dining hall or to join someone for a game at a Late Nite event.
Our social campus is in stark contrast to my hometown suburb. The only “outdoor court” where people played was a lone basketball net on one side of the street, where neighborhood children regularly had to stop their game to wait for a car passing by. Part of me always felt bad that those kids didn’t have a better place to play, especially when I was the one driving by.
However, I never really considered another option. I figured, “Someone had built this suburb, people like to live here, that’s how it is and that’s how it will be.” I never fully considered the alternative, thinking that the online digital world of today left everyone isolated in their homes instead of being out in the community.
Many label this phenomenon among our generation as the Generation Z “loneliness epidemic,” describing how convenience has taken precedence over valuable social interaction. In other words, the simplicity of online interactions, with others or even AI programs, is easier and more attractive than a complicated in-person relationship. I’ve definitely experienced this, spending too many nights on YouTube or gaming rather than forming a good friend group like many of my peers.
I’ve started to wonder if the way we live and organize our communities contributes to this. Any teenager who has lived in a suburb can describe how finding a neutral space to hang out is a burden. Most suburban towns lack attractive spaces for young people to spend time together.
For those lucky enough to live in an area with good options, the limited financial resources of teenagers create an additional problem. Even if one has access to the necessary car and gas money to leave the neighborhood, restaurants and malls cost even more. This same price problem is worsened in cities, where goods can be even costlier.
So what do we do instead? We visit each other’s homes, where a TV or video game usually lies in wait to distract us from each other.
College campuses avoid this issue with their public amenities. Even the most cash-strapped students can relax on the lawn with a friend or join a game of basketball, pushing us outside into richer conversational activities or active outdoor ones.
Now, the solution to this cannot be to just send everyone to college. College is expensive for many and only provides around four years of socialization before one ends up in the isolated outside world again.
But imagine if our communities at home could take a page from campuses. Wouldn’t it be nice if there were a full volleyball court right by your house, or if you didn’t have to get in your car to grab a cup of coffee? Wouldn’t you be more inclined to meet your friends if your meeting place were a minute’s walk away?
This could also help with our financial issues. Free public amenities like sports fields or swimming pools are much easier on the wallet than a shopping trip, and imagine all the gas money you’d save! Our social isolation will not be fixed overnight, but removing some of these barriers can make hanging out a more attractive option than spending the afternoon on our phones.
This is also not to say that adding more social spaces will magically fix our problems. No matter how many sports fields or coffee shops we make, it will still be our choice to leave the comfort of our beds. It will not be easy, with our endless technology and entertainment designed to keep us hooked and isolated.
But I believe that our generation can overcome this struggle. I finally joined a friend group in my hometown on a break from college, and I’m so grateful that I put in the work to really get to know them. These spaces can be our strike back against the anxiety-inducing apps that have taken over our lives.
But the onus to make the change is on us. We must be the ones to venture out. Social spaces will only be built if there is a demand for them, and that demand can only be created if we take the first step.
Kevin O’Connell is a freshman majoring in political science.
Views expressed in the opinions pages represent the opinions of the columnists. The only piece that represents the view of the Pipe Dream Editorial Board is the staff editorial.