Youth group students and parents might be shocked to find that many colleges are now offering co-ed dorm room options for students.
Two-dozen colleges currently offer co-ed dorm rooms as a habitation option on campus. The current providers include UC Riverside, Brown University, University of Pennsylvania, Oberlin College, and Clark University. Other schools, like Stanford University, are on board with the idea and have plans to start offering the option in the near future.
Some campus couples are indeed using the habitation option as a way of “shacking up.” These situations are known at some schools as “roomcest.” However, most students utilizing the option claim that the choice is about friendship and compatibility – not sex.
The schools claim that “the demand is mostly from heterosexual students who want to live with close friends who happen to be of the opposite sex; [and that] some gay students who feel more comfortable rooming with someone of the opposite sex are also taking advantage of the option.”
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:
What is your opinion on co-ed dorm rooms? Do you think that youth group students should be warned to stay clear of this housing option at college? How can youth ministries prepare students and parents to navigate these decisions well?
FULL CNN ARTICLEYouth Culture Update online is an article summary compiled by Damien O’Farrell