It is better for students to live away from home while studying at university than living with parents. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

It is better for students to live away from home while studying at university than living with parents. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Nowadays, many university students prefer living in the school’s dorms or sharing a flat with their friends. I suppose that it’s a rite of passage although young people may feel it hard to keep in touch with their parents every day.

Living away from parents means young folks have to learn how to live in an independent life. They need to develop some life skills, such as cooking meals, doing housekeeping, managing finances and getting along with their flatmates. Once they have mastered these skills, they will have the capacity to deal with working stuffs. For example, they are more likely to keep everything organised if they have the habit of cleaning their bedrooms.

In addition, college students can enjoy more freedom in their social life and make new friends. They don’t need to go home every day, thus they will have more time to do a wide range of activities. For example, they can go to the gym with their classmates, attend lectures, do assignments and even do part-time jobs together. Not only can they improve social skills, but also can build up their own networks of contacts by doing these.

However, the downside of this choice is that the contact with parents will decline and the emotional tie will also suffer. They will hardly have a chance to have meals with their parents while parents have less understanding of their children. Students sometimes feel helpless, if they are not able to solve problems by themselves. It might influence their attitude towards family in the future.

To sum up, it can be a great decision to live alone for university students, although it may have a damaging impact on their family relationship.