For once, I am not going to complain about the leadership at Romulus College. You could call it a red-letter day for all I care, because I so rarely do not focus on incompetent leadership. This article addresses another concern I have with the students. I promise that this is not going to be an old man grumbling over how I do not understand the kids nowadays. In fact, I will argue that I am concerned about their well-being.

Growing up, I was socially awkward. That should come as no surprise since most PhDs that I know are not social butterflies. If they were, they wouldn’t have their doctorate. However, what I am seeing in my students worries me about how they interact with other human beings on a daily basis. Originally, I thought the majority of students didn’t participate in campus activities because they were too wrapped up in athletics. Our student body consists of 115% student-athletes, and many extracurricular events are poorly attended. The faculty has tried to meet the students where they are, but I think most of them are too tired after practice to do anything. Even with this extra effort on our part, the numbers did not increase much.

My supposition stems from something else that affects our students. It started a decade ago when I had very few students actively participating in class. It seemed that a lot of them were too afraid to answer a question. I could respond by noting that secondary education is geared more toward finding the right answer than toward learning from mistakes. The last thing anybody their age wants is to be wrong, especially in front of their classmates. I believe this is where it started, but it is getting much worse.

The fear of failure is creeping into other aspects of their lives beyond the classroom, and it only exacerbates the problems we are seeing with engagement. I feel that much of this apprehension stems from the curated lives students see on social media. Those platforms make everything look perfect and awesome. As someone with a background in filming, it takes a lot of effort to make something look good on camera. That is where the problem lies, at least for me. Students consume media that presents people living a certain lifestyle, heavily filtered, and I believe it is hampering their perception of living and adulting. A lot of this consumption is stunting their growth in areas vital to a good college experience. Lack of participation in class and during events could be traced back to the fear they have of looking dumb or awkward, when this is the perfect time for growth through failure. However, not living up to the image that they see on their smartbrick scares them to death.

This awkwardness comes to the fore in the public speaking class that I teach. I am well aware that speech anxiety is a thing, but what I am witnessing now is starting to worry me. Students are trying to hide behind anything that they can when they are up front. Some hide behind a script that is usually AI-generated; others look in a direction not toward the audience; and I had one shroud their face like Kenny from South Park for the duration of their presentation.

I find it interesting that there is a tension between wanting to be popular on social media platforms and being unable to perform in front of a small group in a classroom. I have tried several ways to ease their apprehension, but it is apparent that their fear of failure is crippling them. The worst part is that many of them believe that the experience will be remembered by the audience forever. In reality, nobody will remember their flubs and mistakes. I barely do. That is why I have to take notes while each one speaks.

I need to find a way to get them to come out of their shells. I need them to take chances. I worry that if this trend continues, I will be stuck teaching the worst kind of mimes. Sure, mimes don’t speak, but they at least act out once in a while.