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Last night we saw a few different things in the life of a college student. For this review, I’ll break it up by topic versus by person.
Late Adolescence: If you’ve been watching the show, there is no doubt that you are seeing the inconsistency of each person. This inconsistency is why I would say this is a late adolescent stage of life.
Relational Boundaries: I’ve mentioned this many times before, but again, if you’ve been watching you can CLEARLY see that there is a lack of understanding in relational boundaries! This may surprise you to some degree, but the longer you’re in college ministry the more you’ll see this every day.
Exploration: There is also no doubt that you can see the desire to explore different things during this stage of life. New experiences – whether or not they contradict previous convictions or assumptions – is a key part of the college age stage of life. You see this in Jordan’s partying and experimental dating process. You see this in Andrea (church kid) who enrolls herself in a lingerie fashion show – which by the way, was a sketchy scene. She was very excited about the experience until her friend Erica confronted her on her behavior. You also see this exploration in Josh’s life where he wants to explore a new relationship with Lindsay and now is rethinking his with Andrea. All this exploration helps them discover what it is they really want, desire. Ultimately this is what brings them to a healthy sense of identity. Most struggle with allowing college age people to explore, but I would say it’s necessary. Not fun or comfortable, but necessary.
New Found Freedoms: The freedom had in college life is unlike anything they’ve experienced. Some of this is fun, as we saw last night in the massive snow ball fight at the dorms. Besides the cops being bombarded by snow balls as well, this is the type of thing we want college students to experience.
Pressures: Lindsay was having a hard time from being pressured by her family/parents. We have seen this pressure multiple times in the show. This is something we as leaders must remember. Teaching through topics of handling and dealing with the pressures of their parents/family/others is a great teaching opportunity for you and your ministry. Teach through Ephesians 6 and walk them through the boundaries they have in this context with their parents. Trust me, this will intrigue them!
Next week I’d recommend watching for sure. It’s spring break (so you may want to record it so that you can fwd through some scenes), and I think we’ll see a culmination of a lot of things we’ve been talking about in this series.
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I really enjoyed your insights and point of view into the “College Life” series on MTV. As one of the many UW alums watching the show, I was unhappy with the somewhat narrow slice of real college life contained within the show. But your analysis of the relationship and development issues that can be followed in the show make the viewing far more meaningful.
Thanks and I plan to keep following your analysis.