Pros and cons of campus life
Guo Zi  Updated: 2004-09-01 08:13

I shared a dorm room with seven other girls for the last three years of my college life.

Between the four bunk beds were just two narrow gangways that allowed the girls who slept next to the windows get past the eight small desks which stood in the middle of the room.

If someone decided to pull out her chair, the gangway was blocked.

We each hung curtains along our bunks for privacy, and when any of us had visitors, those who slept on the bottom bunks would have to offer up their beds as seats.

Morning ablutions were the busiest time of the day, with more than 200 of us lining up to brush and wash in the same bathroom.

This was just college life. I hated the crowded way we had to live, but there was no other choice.

In recent years, more and more students have moved out of dorm rooms to rent their own apartments off campus. Schools and teachers don't actually endorse the practice, but they don't stand in the students' way.

A rule the education authorities in Guangdong Province issued in early August, however, bans college students from renting off-campus apartments. This has caused some debate on the management of students' lives.

College officials claim the rule aims to protect student interests.

Those who flout the regulations and insist on living outside the college walls will be punished or even thrown out of their educational institution.

Indeed, there are safety issues to think about in renting off campus.

Usually students can only afford old and poorly equipped apartments. Ageing electrics, appliances and supplies could all be dangerous. Last year in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, gas leaks actually killed one student in her rented apartment.

Some students have reported being attacked on their way back home once they leave the college gates. Female students are even more at risk.

Students can also suffer if there is no supervision, and co-habiting with girl or boy friends has become more common. Dorm life guarantees safety, with gates closed at night and security guards on site all the time. Dorm administrators help out when needed, and safety rules are enforced to protect students. At night, electricity is cut off so students who need their sleep can sleep without disturbance. And when there are emergencies there is always someone around to help.

But it seems all this is just not enough for today's budding brains. Most college students of today have no brothers or sisters, and have been used to getting a room of their own at home and a lot more private space.

Campus life - the crowded dorms, public bathrooms, limited use of facilities and nightly blackouts - is unbearable for students from better-off families.

And because these days courses, books, food and accommodation are all paid for by the student's family, they feel they should have the right to choose what conditions they live in.

When there are vacant apartments available around campus, college students want to have the right to choose.

Schools have their own difficulties in baby-sitting students.

Most Chinese parents mollycoddle their children even as they grow up. Parents want their children to stay at home if their school is in the same city, and in the dormitory if they are far away from home. The higher learning institutions are supposed to play "parents" to their students.

When accidents do happen, parents tend to blame the schools for not taking care of their children.

These cases can be handled when students have not even applied to live in dorm rooms, but when they are registered as living on campus and actually live elsewhere, things can get out of control.

Schools are criticized by parents and education departments when students living off campus are hurt, when they should be responsible for themselves.

A circular was issued by the Ministry of Education earlier this year, suggesting college students do not rent apartments off campus.

In special cases where they do so, according to the circular, they must provide their school with confirmation signed by themselves and their parents.

Flexible rules are better than locking students on campus as the Guangdong education department has done.

And of course when dormitories start offering better living conditions, students might choose to live there anyway.

(China Daily)

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