College Students Spend Less Time Socializing with Friends According to the table above,in 1989,37.9%of freshmen said they spent at least 16 hours a week hanging out with their friends,while 18.lc/o said they spent five hours or less.But in 2016,only 18%of freshmen said they spent at least 16 hours a week socializing,while 38.8qo stud they spent five hours or less.This means that college freshmen a他spending less time with fnends than ever.Two main reasons can help explain this phenomenon.For one Lhing,young adults are focusing more on getting good grades now as colleges become more demanding and selective as compared to 1989.Thus with the pressures of doing well in school,students have less time to socialize and instead learn to put their education first at all times.For another,some university studenis traded some of the hours they would nonnally have spent hanging out with friends or partying for time on so-cial media.Even though socializing with friends has declined,students increasingly value institutional social offerings and environments on campus.This may indicate that students are increasingly looking to institutions to pravide social opportunities given their declininf;experience with less structured forms of socializing.
