Though it is nearly 2 decades since I set foot in any of the exalted precincts of an academic institution, my memories of school and college are still fresh. Both school or college were never tough in the real sense as I was not attending the residential types which involve ragging and bullying of freshers by the seasoned campaigners.
Most often the tough times in colleges are linked to this scrouge in our society viz. Ragging. The film industry has done us much disservice by making this social evil into an art form and actively encouraging it by showing heroes indulging in it in various forms. The other problem that commonly ails students is the pressure of examination. This is mostly the result of ill-planning and last minute cramming efforts. Also a large part of the problem lies in the mediocre quality of teaching and the lack of interest among students to attend classes as a result.
What is a good fix for these problems? First a good planning of studies, secondly a balanced approach to life and emphasis on value based living. If all teachers in schools and colleges were trained on value education, they will impart the single most important solution to all our myriad problems viz. value based living. Efforts are underway by NCERT to include Value Education in all formal education processes and this movement will show results in a couple of more decades as the next breed of youth come out of the system with more than merely degrees to show their long term in school/college.
Adios
Subbu