By LOGAN KEETER
October 24, 2006

This year at Belmont Abbey College, there have been some pretty monumental changes. Not only are our classes much bigger and our parking lots completely full, but there are also changes in the attitudes of students.

I am aware that this is only my second year at Belmont Abbey and I am not one who has spent all of my college years here, but I have definitely noticed a big change from last year to this year. This change is the growing lack of respect for the classroom environment and our professors.

Last year when I was experiencing my first semester at Belmont Abbey, I was so happy to be at a smaller college where the classes were comfortable and contact with the professors was much easier to come by than at the large university I had previously attended. Students waited their chance to talk in class, respected their peers and professors, and seemed to prosper in an enjoyable and effective classroom environment.

This year the respect level of our classrooms has started to diminish. Students in class don’t seem to mind constantly being late, walking to the bathroom IN THE MIDDLE of class, and blatantly holding conversations while their professors are talking. I am so disgusted at how immature certain students prove to be, as they laugh and joke for the entire class period.

What is even more disturbing is that the students who refuse to act like adults are for the most part not the freshmen, but the older students. For freshmen, this is their first time in any kind of collegiate environment, yet in most of my classes they are the ones who are attentive and respectful. The same cannot be said for some of those who have been here for several years.

It seems to be that some students feel that they have knowledge above everyone else, therefore there is no need for them to pay any mind, and they can spend the class period trying to be “cute” and funny and refuse to pay attention. I wish these students could actually see how they appear to everyone else around them. It’s actually very sad.

From being subjected to the conversations of these disruptive people, I can promise that there are no words said important enough to cause the group of students around them to lose focus. Do we really care what your doing after class, who was talking to your boyfriend, the final score of the game, or what you heard about your suitemate? NO, not at all. You are not funny, you are not entertaining, and there are more important things to hear about than what you’re saying.

Don’t get me wrong -- as a whole, Belmont Abbey students are responsible and demonstrate numerous good qualities. It is just these disruptive students that prevent the good ones from being able to listen and learn.

I know that if I am this upset about some students’ lack of respect, I cannot even imagine how our professors must feel. Ask yourself how you would you feel if you spent your personal time preparing for class, only to have that ruined by a group of disruptive students. Have you ever tried to do a presentation where the other students in the class were having their own personal conversations? It’s hard isn’t it? It’s distracting and ridiculously immature.

I know that each student at Belmont Abbey College is capable of keeping his or her mouth shut for an hour-and-fifteen minute period. Talking, laughing, making noises and just being irritating only makes the person doing these actions appear to be stupid and non-responsive. Most of us here are great, and do have respect in class. What I am worried about is that there seems to be a small but growing number of people who do not. Watch yourselves. Put yourselves in the professors’ position and think how you would feel if students were disrupting what you worked so hard to present to the class.

There is a time in life when you have to grow up and work to better yourself. Acting with disrespect toward our faculty and preventing your friends and peers from learning to their full capacity shouldn’t be acceptable to anyone. I encourage each and every student to hold themselves, their peers, and their professors to much higher standards.