College offers puppies and coloring books to deal with finals stress

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Yeah... to heck with puppies! Kids these days ought'a cope with stress the way WE did, back in the day.

Smoke breaks and booze!

Seriously, though, how are puppies and colouring books harmful in any way? I like to colour. Puppies are nice. Playing with them is a fun activity. I don't see why we need to sneer at young people for coming up with creative, fun ways to destress during exam time.



I mean, really, it could be SO much worse.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! Shatter those glass houses!! You won't have many friends around here. But I'll be one of them.

 

[mom2rtk]

I think part of conflict comes from a common perception that "school = employment".

But, if you think about it, it'd be an awfully strange place of employment where you paid your employer, versus your employer paying you. And where many of you actually live in your place of employment, paying them even more for that privilege, too. Some of you even pay them to feed you.

Far as I've always been concerned, we don't work FOR our schools, they work for us. We've engaged them to educate us.

And universities are places of residence for many students, and as such offer much more than just lessons. Heck, my mother-in-law lives in a senior's residence where they offer yoga, boxing, board games, massage therapy, bean bag tosses, etc... Are we coddling our seniors? Creating an entire generation of dependent oldsters who expect to have their hand held? What's the difference between the entertainment and wellness offerings at her residence, versus a student residence AKA a university?

Yeah, I wasn't looking for an explanation. I'm ok with remaining conflicted about it.

 

[LisaR]

Huh...

I just procrastinated a lot (which led to all-night cram sessions) & hung out w/ friends & drank a lot of coffee.

And my friends & I somehow managed to survive college w/o drinking, doing drugs, or sleeping w/ random strangers... even though we didn't have coloring books & puppies.

I actually know a lot of people who didn't drink & do drugs & sleep around in college in order to relieve stress.

I did do a lot of doodling in my notebooks while the professors lectured. Does that count as coloring?

EDITED TO ADD: To be clear, I'm not begrudging them their puppies & coloring books. I love puppies. I just think it's funny.

And I think a it's fair to say we have become a "softer" society. The 18-year-old soldiers who fought in WW2 would probably find stress-relieving puppies & coloring books in college a little strange.

My dad wouldn't have found it strange. His platoon "adopted" groups of stray dogs during both WW2 and the Korean War and those young men did everything they could to take care of those dogs. They were a welcome relief considering the environment they were in and without a doubt provided some stress relief. My dad, who I really wouldn't have considered a big animal person, talked regularly about the dogs they befriended during the wars. I guess you can blame that generation for the "softer" society that you claim we have today.

 

[georgina]

I guess none of you who think this is coddling work in the new tech environment - my DD (yes her college has puppies) interned for a company that provides 2 meals a day free, has a gym on the premises with workout classes, plenty of free snack food and lounges, ping pong and pool tables, pianos to play, etc.

And to those who say this generation is less employable because they are coddled, she had her pick of 6 job offers and accepted one recently (she graduates in May).

 

[MinnieMouse84]

Really, you are equating puppies and coloring books to chemotherapy?

Not a perfect analogy by any means, but in a way, yes. Both can help with medical conditions. Btw, I think puppies and coloring books would also be great tools to help cancer patients cope with the stress of their illness.

 

[Magpie]

My dad wouldn't have found it strange. His platoon "adopted" groups of stray dogs during both WW2 and the Korean War and those young men did everything they could to take care of those dogs. They were a welcome relief considering the environment they were in and without a doubt provided some stress relief. My dad, who I really wouldn't have considered a big animal person, talked regularly about the dogs they befriended during the wars. I guess you can blame that generation for the "softer" society that you claim we have today.

Every side of that conflict loved cuddling puppies. I mean really, who doesn't?

And today...

But, hey, I suppose you could argue that only people in situations of extreme stress and anxiety deserve puppies, and those pampered college students just don't rate. They need to suck it up until they get to a proper war zone, and THEN they can be allowed to cuddle a puppy. Not before.

Yep, no stress relief for you, until your stress is completely off the scale and beyond anything most people will ever have to endure. You have to EARN those puppies!

 

[LilyWDW]

I guess none of you who think this is coddling work in the new tech environment - my DD (yes her college has puppies) interned for a company that provides 2 meals a day free, has a gym on the premises with workout classes, plenty of free snack food and lounges, ping pong and pool tables, pianos to play, etc.

And to those who say this generation is less employable because they are coddled, she had her pick of 6 job offers and accepted one recently (she graduates in May).

Heck, I don't work in tech and my job offers free snacks, often brings in lunch or dinner if we have special events, has parties, has a gym with workout classes... this isn't anything new and creates a great environment to work. They really ramp it up when we are at our busiest (also known as when our STRESS is highest), often doing something special just about every single day.

Guess they are coddling us...

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

My dad wouldn't have found it strange. His platoon "adopted" groups of stray dogs during both WW2 and the Korean War and those young men did everything they could to take care of those dogs. They were a welcome relief considering the environment they were in and without a doubt provided some stress relief. My dad, who I really wouldn't have considered a big animal person, talked regularly about the dogs they befriended during the wars. I guess you can blame that generation for the "softer" society that you claim we have today.

See that's why the Germans won. We coddled our soldiers too much. Oh wait.

 

[MinnieMouse84]

My goodness we are raising such pansies now, totally unable to cope with normal life.

It's called being sensitive to people with mental illnesses.

 

[Magpie]

It's called being sensitive to people with mental illnesses.

Or even just being sensitive to everyone, and the challenges and stresses we all face, regardless of whether they're large or small, petty or legit. You shouldn't have to have a doctor's note, to enjoy a bit of puppy-and-colouring book time.

I think our go-to questions, before we mock or sneer at anyone, should always be, "Is anyone getting hurt? Is anyone being helped?" If the answer to the first is no, and the answer to the second is yes, then we need to back off with the negative judgements.

After all, it's not like our expertly-reared (according to the very finest parenting experts), tough-as-nails (never cried when they fell down!), self-soothing (been putting themselves to sleep in a crib since they were fifteen minutes old!), independent (never sucked their thumb or needed a lovey!) young person will be magically turned into an emotionally-fragile melting snowflake the moment they encounter their very first "safe space", right?

 

[MrsDuck]

I guess none of you who think this is coddling work in the new tech environment - my DD (yes her college has puppies) interned for a company that provides 2 meals a day free, has a gym on the premises with workout classes, plenty of free snack food and lounges, ping pong and pool tables, pianos to play, etc.

And to those who say this generation is less employable because they are coddled, she had her pick of 6 job offers and accepted one recently (she graduates in May).

Sign me up! I teach and am lucky to get to pee 2x during the day.

 

[Disney_traveler]

The problem I am having with many responses on this thread is the way of thinking that the college is going student by student handing them a color book/colors or a puppy and saying "Here! Do this! Relieve stress!" When they are just saying "hey we got some stuff in the student union if you need a break".

What if it were:
-free pencils and scantrons?
-free pizza?
-bong parties?(hey it's legal some places!)
-comfy pjs?
-shoot a round of ammunition with a handgun?
-bungee jumping?
-cancel exams?

There are a TON of options people use to destress. With the explosion of the use of therapy animals (hellooo have you not seen all the people getting clearance for airplanes) and adult coloring book craze they just chose 2 easily accessible ones.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Sign me up! I teach and am lucky to get to pee 2x during the day.

Twice!!! See teachers are coddled. Cut their pay by 50%.

 

[MrsDuck]

Twice!!! See teachers are coddled. Cut their pay by 50%.

#blessed

 

[Snap Crackle Pop]

The problem I am having with many responses on this thread is the way of thinking that the college is going student by student handing them a color book/colors or a puppy and saying "Here! Do this! Relieve stress!" When they are just saying "hey we got some stuff in the student union if you need a break".

What if it were:
-free pencils and scantrons?
-free pizza?
-bong parties?(hey it's legal some places!)
-comfy pjs?
-shoot a round of ammunition with a handgun?
-bungee jumping?
-cancel exams?

There are a TON of options people use to destress. With the explosion of the use of therapy animals (hellooo have you not seen all the people getting clearance for airplanes) and adult coloring book craze they just chose 2 easily accessible ones.

You can't cancel exams unless the school gets shut down, at my university it's mandatory to have a final of some sort.

And I hate tit burst you ur bubble but more st universities do your suggestions as well and not only during finals week but throughout the year

 

[Disney_traveler]

You can't cancel exams unless the school gets shut down, at my university it's mandatory to have a final of some sort.

And I hate tit burst you ur bubble but more st universities do your suggestions as well and not only during finals week but throughout the year

Your post makes no sense.

 

[mjkacmom]

Your post makes no sense.

I thought it was just me..,

 

[Magpie]

You can't cancel exams unless the school gets shut down, at my university it's mandatory to have a final of some sort.

And I hate tit burst you ur bubble but more st universities do your suggestions as well and not only during finals week but throughout the year

Speed typing on your phone, perhaps?

Also, I really don't think you're bursting anyone's bubble here. The previous poster's point wasn't whether or not they do these things, it was just that the options are endless and no one's being forced to take part.

 

[3Gsandme]

I get tired of people dogging Millennials. I'm raising one. She and her friends aren't coddled, entitled cry babies. BUT, they are more sensitive, open and accepting than I think we have been. Mental health isn't taboo to these kids. They're open about depression and anxiety. They don't have the same hang ups.

People (including corporations) care more about work/life balance. They're trying to help care for their employees. If petting a dog or coloring for a while (something I do encourage at home for relaxation and stress reduction) makes a person feel happier or more relaxed, why does anyone care? We all have activities we do to relieve stress. Why would you pretend you didn't?

 

[Disney_traveler]

I thought it was just me..,

Speed typing on your phone, perhaps?

Also, I really don't think you're bursting anyone's bubble here. The previous poster's point wasn't whether or not they do these things, it was just that the options are endless and no one's being forced to take part.

Thanks! Yeah I was just pointing out/wondering if people realized it wasn't mandatory and if they would be opposed if it were other options.

Also I went to a state university for both my bachelor and master degrees and had professors cancel finals. It wasn't because university was shut down.