College students are often viewed as incompetent teenagers. However, we are capable of making our own decisions.

Adults typically have low expectations for college students and often treat them as if they are still in high school. College students can vote as well as join the military but are not treated as if they have those rights. On top of that, others think students cannot accomplish simple tasks such as doing laundry, cooking or keeping a job.

College students need to be treated as equals by other adults. Instead, we’re being treated like lost children. There will be no room for students to grow and ease into adulthood if they are constantly being dismissed.

Some dorms on other campuses have a curfew to keep the students in line, but adults don’t need to be kept in line. This proves true again in instances with an attendance policy. If a student doesn’t want to show up to class, which would mean risking their education, that is their decision as an adult. Some professors don’t allow technology in college classrooms, which is unnecessary and truly shows the lack of trust from adults.

While many try to take advantage of college students, we are smarter than we often appear. Many businesses try to trick students into applying for credit cards or even loans. This diminishes college students and their ability to make their own decisions.

Although college life is often portrayed as being filled with sex, drugs and a lack of work ethic, many college students understand the cost of education and take it seriously. However, if college students aren’t taken seriously, they might go into the workforce with the mindset that their opinion doesn’t matter.

It appears that college students are jumping through hoops to prove that they’re capable of adulthood. While some consider college students to have reached adulthood, others do not have the same level of confidence. Many don’t consider college students to reach adulthood until they have a stable job or a serious relationship.

Older generations often view the younger ones as incompetent. Students often don’t learn simple tasks in high school such as cooking, changing a tire or balancing a checkbook. Many schools are teaching classes for college students to learn these tasks as they grow into adulthood.

College students are not only adults, but they’re capable of more than they’re given credit for. Just because students haven’t learned what they needed to before entering college, it’s only because they haven’t been taught. There should be more classes and available programs for college students to learn how to accomplish tasks as adults.

We would like to be given more flexibility and freedom to begin our adult lives. Because college students aren’t often seen as adults, it’s frustrating to always try to prove ourselves. As a college student, I don’t need to prove to anyone that I’m an adult. It should already be seen as a fact.