27th August 2025

Recently I heard a Radio 4 broadcast about the very high level of loneliness among 16-24 year-olds. The program discussed the impact of social media and the decrease in live human contact. A university lecturer said she used to have to ask for quiet when starting a lecture but now she finds near silence in the room as all are “on their phones”. No-one is chatting. 

A new academic year will bring thousands of new students to Bristol needing to make new friends. 

Some degree courses take up to 750 new students. In 10 minutes maximum, 250 students go into the lecture theatre as the previous 250 pour out. No time or space for chatting. You are not in the same tutorial group for all subjects. There may be some overlap or none. Your university accommodation is in shared flats with three to eight other new students and you have to cater for yourselves. The first few weeks are scary. With luck you will find friends in your accommodation or will join a student society which is friendly and most students find their feet in a few weeks. But for some their social media keep showing them old friends elsewhere apparently having a good time and feel they, and they alone, are missing out. Where is this exciting new life? Everyone else has made hundreds of friends and you have not. 

Last Sunday Sam Hackett told us about the Bristol University Chaplaincy work. Their work in offering a listening ear to the lost and lonely is badly needed. Our church contribution to their work is money well-spent. 

Margaret Clements