Are students screwed?

The perception of students is always one that’s fascinated me.

We’re seen as being lazy drunks, who only work hard around deadlines or exam time and will go straight into full employment as soon as our degree is over. Whilst that’s true for some people, I cannot stress how rare that is.

Of course, the majority of us like a good drink (or six) and some people only work hard around important deadlines. It’s more than likely that these people will fail.

Drink both at once and you’ll get drunker quicker. Genius.

In today’s world, being a student isn’t all it was billed as. Ask your parents, and I bet they’ll say that when they were our age, just having a degree was a golden ticket to a fantastic job for the rest of their lives.

Look at the situation now, and it’s quite probable that you have to have a first class degree, a Masters and quite possibly a PHD to compete in this market.

Couple this with the trebling of tuition fees, and it looks as if the odds are stacked against us. Factor in that these tuition fees have to actually be paid back (outrageous) and it’s no wonder that eligible students for university choose to not go.

‘Three more years of this?! I can’t take it!’

The problem isn’t just going to uni, or even during it. Youth unemployment is at the highest it’s been for years, and there are barely any measures to stop this worrying trend.

Maybe this is because the government don’t think of students as a group that could influence their policies.

To put it frankly, this is total bullshit. Students are one of the biggest groups of voters that political parties should be trying to court, but we don’t vote. Not voting means no voice, and no way to make things change. Things as basic as getting the minimum wage raised, seriously impacts us. It means more money for drinking!

Only forty-five percent of under 25’s voted in the last general election, compared with sixty nine percent of eligible voters. Come on people! Instead of bitching and moaning about what you would do differently, why don’t you enable someone- or even yourself- to do something to change it.

Okay, so what if you’ve got your PHD and landed a great job? What then? Well, how about buying a house? I’d like to see you try! Seriously. I’d love to see it. House prices have jumped over the last thirty years, the average house will set you back around two hundred grand and there’s no signs of slowing down. You want to live in London? Better get Mum and Dad to set up that trust fund, stat.

Oh fuck off. We know we’re nowhere near getting this.

So. The forecast doesn’t look too great for us right now. But on the other hand, one pound Jagerbombs for three years isn’t all that bad.