Students at religious colleges have an undeniably low percentage of unsavory incidents when compared to students attending secular colleges.  Though there are many reasons why this might be the case, several stand out above the rest. First, in a general consensus, these young men and women have a genuine desire to attend these colleges for the very reason of avoiding the temptations of sex, alcohol, and drug use.  These students have chosen to live their lives according to a standard that they believe is higher than that of man.  In Riley’s article, “How Student Life is Different at Religious Colleges” the students that she interviewed admitted that while some felt unhappy with the “strange” environment at the start, by the end of their time they felt happier than they had been before.

Secondly, the discipline at these colleges is much different from those at the secular schools.  The religious colleges choose to strictly monitor and enforce abstinence from sex as well as alcohol and drugs.  While secular colleges do attempt to limit these last two items, they have such a loose policy that it runs rampant on the campuses.  Christian colleges readily admit that the students on their campuses are not perfect and will occasionally make mistakes from time to time. In Riley’s article she relays how one girl was caught having an affair with a married man at a particularly strict school.  Nevertheless from all appearances the administrations seem to keep all such extracurricular activity to a minimum.

Lastly, as with any school, the key to students’s happiness is in finding the right fit.  In this case perhaps it might be in finding a school with stricter rules.  At some Christian schools, dating is allowing but is more of a courtship.  Chaperons are required to attend with every date and some schools forbid any touching between the opposite sex.  Other schools allow touching such as kissing and hugging while still other schools forbid dating all together.  Seemingly archaic, these rules clearly prevent much of the drama and chaos that is so prevalent on secular campuses today.  These rules help create a more solid structure that enables the young minds of the students to focus more on knowledge and less on the many distractions of the world.  In the end, these students probably end up with the better deal since they emerge from their college experience knowing how to form relationships without sex, knowing how to have fun without getting drunk every weekend, and can think clearly since they haven’t destroyed their brain cells by doing drugs.