Advantages and Disadvantages of Hostel Life

There are a number of advantages and disadvantages of hostel life. The primary advantage of living in the hostel is that hostel life helps in creating cross-culture bonding and socialising, while the disadvantage is that not being under the supervision of parents leads a few students astray.

Hostels are available in most schools and colleges for students who do not live nearby. The hostel is a residential place belonging to the school or college, where the students stay, against a cost.

While there are several advantages of staying in the hostel, there are disadvantages as well. This article will focus on both the advantages and disadvantages of hostel life.

Advantages of Hostel Life

The hostel life gives several memories of growing up together, away from the home. These are fond memories that the hostelites remember later in their life. The advantages of hostel life are listed below:

1. Discipline

Hostel life inculcates discipline in the students. The discipline is binding on the students and it cannot be avoided. They must follow the timetable for everything starting from waking up to going back to sleep.

The students must take their own responsibilities like cleaning their clothes and maintaining hygiene. A great amount of discipline is also imbibed by the students by looking at their peers.

2. Independence

This is a blog trait that is induced in the students owing to their life in the hostel. Here, they do not have their parents and family to look after and take care of them. Naturally, they develop the responsibility of taking care of themselves.

They can wash their clothes, keep themselves clean, take care of their belongings and prepare their lessons independently. While they are under the supervision of the hostel matrons, they learn to do their tasks independently.

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3. Socialising

The hostelites live with their friends and roommates. They learn to help each other and be by the side of their friends in times of need.

The hostel life teaches them to socialise better than their homes. The hostel life develops unity among them despite the cultural differences in their backgrounds.

4. Academics

By way of staying in the hostel, the students get the opportunity to study in groups. A group study is way more effective than studying alone.

They take help from the friends and help each other when studying together. Through this the students develop very important real-life skills like analytical skills and problem solving.

5. Friendship

As the students stay together in the hostel, they stay through the thick and thin of their friends. This is not the scenario when they live in their own homes.

Few of them become friends for life. Not just inside the classroom, they are with their friends outside too. This fosters a genuine friendship and attachment in the students.

Also Check: 6 Coping Strategies For Student Mental Health

Disadvantages of Hostel Life

There are several evils of staying in the hostel too. Like the advantages, there are several disadvantages of staying in the hostel. The list of disadvantages have been mentioned below:

1. Ragging

This is one evil that the hostelites are subjected to often. There are seniors or classmates who are bullies and live in the same hostel. They rag the new joiners or the apparently docile students.

The victims of ragging feel helpless because they have to stay in the same hostel along with the students who rag them. They often resort to either leaving the hostel or quitting the school altogether, finding no means to be relieved of the situation.

2. Loneliness

This is another major disadvantage of staying in the hostel. The students who are introverts face this problem. They cannot mix up and share their problems as openly as they can share with their parents and family.

This makes them a victim of loneliness as they do not like their stay in the hostel due to such reasons.

Also Check: 10 Tips for Staying Focused and Productive as A Student

3. Insecurity

Students in the hostel stay together. Some hostels have separate 2 or 3 bedded rooms, while others have the feature of dorms where they have bunk-beds in a very big room. In the latter set-up, students often feel insecure.

4. Bad Company

The school and college students are at an age that is vulnerable to picking up bad traits. Living in the hostel often makes them fall into bad company.

They pick up bad habits such as smoking and alcoholism. There are few students who have an overpowering attitude and this affects the students who live with them in the hostel.

5. Problem with Food

The meals are often inadequate. While some hostels do take care of the overall nutrition of the students, others do not show much responsibility. The hostel-food often does not taste good.

Since they do not get the delicious foods that they get at home, they avoid the meal times and become picky eaters. This affects their overall nutrition.

6. Problem in Concentrating

This is one major disadvantage of staying in a hostel. While group studies are beneficial, at times it is also important to study on one’s own. This especially becomes a problem when the roommates are not good students and are least careful about the problems of others.

The constant noise and conversations makes it difficult to focus and hinder their studies making it difficult for them to score good marks.

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