essay on student responsibility

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10 Things Successful Students Do

2 Successful students take responsibility

A college campus is almost like a small town—or country—unto itself. The campus has its own security force, its own government, its own stores, its own ID cards, its own parking rules, and so on. Colleges also have their own policies regarding many types of activities and behaviors. Students who do not understand the rules can sometimes find themselves in trouble.

The most important non-academic policy is a Code or Statement on Student Rights and Responsibilities. Such policies are designed to ensure that all students have the same right to a quality education—one not unfairly interrupted by the actions of others. The most important academic policy is academic honesty. The principle of academic honesty is simple: every student must do their own work. Colleges also have policies about alcohol and drug use, sexual harassment, hazing, hate crimes, and other potential problems. The college registrar has policies about course add and drop dates, payment schedules and refunds, and the like. You will find these policies on your college website. It is vital that you are aware of these policies as you begin your college career and that you are aware of how to solve problems, and make good decisions.

College, The St. Clair Way

While your college may have unique features to its culture and expectations, the general principles presented here are true for most North American Post Secondary institutions. This video was created for use at Orientation with new students at St. Clair College to explain our college culture. (You may recognize our own Irene Stewart in the video). We recommend that you review this video and work through the self-checks to ensure you are aware of your responsibilities as a student and of the college community that is available to help you be successful.

Self-Management

To succeed in college, you need to take control of your life. Gone are the days when you could just “cruise” through school, or life, or let others motivate you or establish schedules to manage your time. This change presents an exciting opportunity. It’s your first step in your new life and the key to your future.

Here are a few thoughts to get you started in the right direction:

Accept responsibility for your life. You are on equal footing with everyone else and have the same opportunities to succeed.

Decide what you want to do. Don’t let things just happen—make them happen by deciding that they should happen.

Realize you can change. You can change your habits to become a better student. You can change your attitudes and become a more positive, motivated student.

Develop a personal ethical code. Do what is right for you and for others. The college world demands ethical standards and rewards responsible, ethical behavior. Be proud of who you are and your good decisions.

Enjoy your life! Going to college might seem overwhelming at times, but no one is asking you to “give up your life” to succeed in college. Enjoy meeting new people, learning new things, and experiencing the diversity of the college experience. Most college graduates look back on their college years as one of the best periods in their whole lives!

Problem Solving: When Setbacks Happen

Even when you have clear goals and are motivated and focused to achieve them, problems sometimes happen. Accept that they will happen, since inevitably they do for everyone. The difference between those who succeed by solving the problem and moving on and those who get frustrated and give up is partly attitude and partly experience —and knowing how to cope when a problem occurs.

Lots of different kinds of setbacks may happen while you’re in college — just as to everyone in life. Here are a few examples:

• A financial crisis
• An illness or injury
• A crisis involving family members or loved ones
• Stress related to frequently feeling you don’t have enough time
• Stress related to relationship problems

Some things happen that we cannot prevent. But many other kinds of problems can be prevented or made less likely to occur.

• You can take steps to stay healthy.
• You can take control of your finances and avoid most financial problems common among college students.
• You can learn how to build successful social relationships and get along better with your professors, with other students, and in personal relationships.
• You can learn time management techniques to ensure you use your time effectively for studying.
• You can learn to do well in your classes with effective reading, notetaking, test-taking, and writing skills for classes.

Preventing the problems that typically keep college students from succeeding is much of what this Guide is all about.

Not all problems can be avoided. Illness or a financial problem can significantly set one back — especially when you’re on a tight schedule and budget. Other problems, such as a social or relationship issue or an academic problem in a certain class, may be more complex and not easily prevented. What then?

First, work to resolve the immediate problem:

• Stay motivated and focused . Don’t let frustration, anxiety, or other negative emotions make the problem worse than it already is.
• Analyze the problem to consider all possible solutions. An unexpected financial setback doesn’t automatically mean you have to drop out of school – not when alternatives such as student loans, less expensive living arrangements, or other possible solutions may be available. Failing a midterm exam doesn’t automatically mean you’re going to fail the course – not when you make the effort to determine what went wrong, work with your professor and others on an improved study plan, and use better strategies to prepare for the next test.
• Seek help when you need to. None of us gets through life alone, and it’s not a sign of weakness to see your academic advisor or a college counsellor if you have a problem.
• When you’ve developed a plan for resolving the problem, work to follow through. If it will take a while before the problem is completely solved, track your progress in smaller steps so that you can see you really are succeeding. Every day will move you one step closer to putting it behind you.

After you’ve solved a problem, be sure to avoid it again in the future:

• Be honest with yourself: how did you contribute to the problem? Sometimes it’s obvious: a student who drank heavily at a party the night before a big test failed the exam because he was so hung over he couldn’t think straight. Sometimes the source of the problem is not as obvious but may become clearer the more you think about it. Another student did a lot of partying during the term but studied all day before the big test and was well rested and clearheaded at test time but still did poorly; he may not yet have learned good study skills. Another student has frequent colds and other mild illnesses that keep him from doing his best: how much better would he feel if he ate well, got plenty of exercise, and slept enough every night? If you don’t honestly explore the factors that led to the problem, it’s more likely to happen again.
• Take responsibility for your life and your role in what happens to you. Earlier we talked about people with negative attitudes, who are always blaming others, fate, or “the system” for their problems. It’s no coincidence that they keep on having problems. Unless you want to keep having problems, don’t keep blaming others.
• Taking responsibility doesn’t mean being down on yourself. Failing at something doesn’t mean you are a failure. We all fail at something, sometime. Adjust your attitude so you’re ready to get back on track and feel happy that you’ll never make that mistake again!
• Make a plan. You might still have a problem on that next big test if you don’t make an effective study plan and stick to it. You may need to change your behavior in some way, such as learning time management strategies.

Making Decisions

Much of your college and professional life will be spent solving problems; some will be complex, such as deciding on a career, and require time and effort to come up with a solution. Others will be small, such as deciding what to eat for lunch, and will allow you to make a quick decision based entirely on your own experience. But, in either case, when coming up with the solution and deciding what to do, follow the same basic steps.

• Define the problem. Use your analytical skills. What is the real issue? Why is it a problem? What are the root causes? What kinds of outcomes or actions do you expect to generate to solve the problem? What are some of the key characteristics that will make a good choice: Timing? Resources? Availability of tools and materials? For more complex problems, it helps to actually write out the problem and the answers to these questions. Can you clarify your understanding of the problem by using metaphors to illustrate the issue?

• Narrow the problem. Many problems are made up of a series of smaller problems, each requiring its own solution. Can you break the problem into different facets? What aspects of the current issue are “noise” that should not be considered in the problem solution? (Use critical thinking to separate facts from opinion in this step.)

• Generate possible solutions. List all your options. Use your creative thinking skills in this phase. Did you come up with the second “right” answer, and the third or the fourth? Can any of these answers be combined into a stronger solution? What past or existing solutions can be adapted or combined to solve this problem?

• Choose the best solution. Use your critical thinking skills to select the most likely choices. List the pros and cons for each of your selections. How do these lists compare with the requirements you identified when you defined the problem? If you still can’t decide between options, you may want to seek further input trusted friends and family, your professors or college counsellors.

Contributing to Decision Making

You will be called on to make many decisions in your life. Some will be personal, like what to major in, or whether or not to get married. Other times, you will be making decisions on behalf of others at work or for a volunteer organization. Occasionally, you will be asked for your opinion or experience for decisions others are making.

To be effective in all of these circumstances, it is helpful to understand some principles about decision making.

First, define who is responsible for solving the problem or making the decision. In an organization, this may be someone above or below you on the organization chart but is usually the person who will be responsible for implementing the solution. Deciding on an academic major should be your decision, because you will have to follow the course of study. Deciding on the boundaries of a sales territory would most likely be the sales manager who supervises the territories, because he or she will be responsible for producing the results with the combined territories.

Once you define who is responsible for making the decision, everyone else will fall into one of two roles: giving input, or in rare cases, approving the decision. Understanding the role of input is very important for good decisions. Input is sought or given due to experience or expertise, but it is up to the decision maker to weigh the input and decide whether and how to use it. Input should be fact based, or if offering an opinion, it should be clearly stated as such. Finally, once input is given, the person giving the input must support the other’s decision, whether or not the input is actually used.

Consider a team working on a project for a science course. The team assigns you the responsibility of analyzing and presenting a large set of complex data. Others on the team will set up the experiment to demonstrate the hypothesis, prepare the class presentation, and write the paper summarizing the results. As you face the data, you go to the team to seek input about the level of detail on the data you should consider for your analysis. The person doing the experiment setup thinks you should be very detailed, because then it will be easy to compare experiment results with the data. However, the person preparing the class presentation wants only high-level data to be considered because that will make for a clearer presentation. If there is not a clear understanding of the decision-making process, each of you may think the decision is yours to make because it influences the output of your work; there will be conflict and frustration on the team. If the decision maker is clearly defined upfront, however, and the input is thoughtfully given and considered, a good decision can be made (perhaps a creative compromise?) and the team can get behind the decision and work together to complete the project.

Finally, there is the approval role in decisions. This is very common in business decisions but often occurs in college work as well (the professor needs to approve the theme of the team project, for example). Approval decisions are usually based on availability of resources, legality, history, or policy.

Decision making self-check:

Important College Policies

One of the most important things that successful students do to take responsibility is to review the policies the govern the college community. It is vital that you seek out and review the policies for your college. These policies impact you as a student and your awareness of the standards, time lines and regulations can prevent you from making missteps that impact your education.

Common policies include:

• Student Handbook: This document provides a comprehensive overview of university regulations, policies, procedures, and resources. It’s the first document every student should familiarize themselves with.
• Code of Student Rights & Responsibilities: Similar to the Code of Conduct, this document outlines the expected behaviors of students and the potential consequences for violating these expectations.
• Academic Integrity Policy: This policy outlines the expectations around academic honesty, which include plagiarism, cheating, and other forms of academic dishonesty.
• Residence Agreement/Handbook: If students are living on campus, it’s essential to understand the rules and guidelines of their specific residence hall or on-campus apartment.
• Alcohol and Cannabis Policy: Universities in Ontario have policies around the use of alcohol and cannabis on campus. Understanding these rules can help prevent violations.
• Sexual Violence Policy: This policy is crucial to understand in the context of Ontario’s Bill 132, which requires post-secondary institutions to have specific policies in place to combat sexual violence on campus.
• Health and Safety Policies: These cover a wide range of topics, including emergency procedures, health center policies, mental health resources, and information on reporting safety concerns or incidents.
• Information Technology Acceptable Use Policy: This policy includes the guidelines for using the university’s digital resources, such as Wi-Fi, email, and other online services.
• Student Financial Policies: It’s important to understand the terms and conditions of any student loans, scholarships, bursaries, or grants. This can also include the university’s tuition refund policy.
• Accessibility Services Policy: These guidelines help students understand how to access and arrange accommodations for disabilities or chronic illnesses.
• Human Rights Policy: This policy outlines the university’s commitment to creating an environment free from discrimination and harassment.
• Privacy Policies: Universities have policies outlining how they handle and protect student data.
• Course Outlines/Syllabi: These will provide expectations, grading criteria, faculty office hours, and other course-specific information.Additionally, it’s beneficial for students to review their campus map and key facilities, and familiarize themselves with any specific departmental or faculty guidelines relevant to their course of study. Students should also be aware that each university or college may have unique policies and documents important for its community, so it’s a good idea to review any information provided thoroughly.

Let’s take a closer look at some of these policies.

Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities

As a student you are valued and respected, you will be treated as an adult through this exciting journey. You will be provided with many opportunities to grow, excel and flourish; of course, along the way you will make mistakes which is expected. Mistakes are opportunities for personal growth and change; we are defined by what we learn from our mistakes. At St. Clair College, we want to guide you through potential mistakes and mitigate any potential actions that could alter your path to graduation and success, hence we introduce to you the Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities (The Code).

Student’s Rights and Responsibilities at St. Clair College

Academic integrity – the honest truth.

Let’s rejoin Irene Stewart and learn more about Academic Integrity. Academic Integrity is a common term in North American Post Secondary education but not everyone is familiar with meaning of integrity, if it helps, you can use the word “Honesty” in place of integrity!

At college, we focus on the active process of learning, not just on how to get good grades. The attitude of some students that grades are the only thing that matters in academics has led many students to resort to academic dishonesty to try to get the best possible grades or handle the pressure of an academic program. Although you may be further tempted if you’ve heard people say, “Everybody does it,” or “It’s no big deal at my school,” you should be mindful of the consequences of cheating:

• You don’t learn as much. Cheating may get you the right answer on a particular exam question, but it won’t teach you how to apply knowledge in the world after school, nor will it give you a foundation of knowledge for learning more advanced material.
• When you cheat, you cheat yourself out of opportunities.
• You risk failing the course or even expulsion from school. Ignorance of the rules is seldom considered a valid defense.
• Cheating causes stress. Fear of getting caught will cause you stress and anxiety; this will get in the way of performing well with the information you do know.
• You’re throwing away your money and time. Getting a college education is a big investment of money and effort. You’re simply not getting your full value when you cheat, because you don’t learn as much.
• You are trashing your integrity. Cheating once and getting away with it makes it easier to cheat again, and the more you cheat, the more comfortable you will feel with giving up your integrity in other areas of life—with perhaps even more serious consequences.
• Cheating lowers your self-esteem. If you cheat, you are telling yourself that you are simply not smart enough to handle learning. It also robs you of the feeling of satisfaction from genuine success.
• Technology has made it easier to cheat. But be aware that technology has also created ways for professors to easily detect these forms of academic dishonesty. If you feel uneasy about doing something in your college work, trust your instincts. Confirm with the professor that your intended form of research or use of material is acceptable.

Cheating just doesn’t pay.

The Honest Truth about Dishonesty

Understanding Academic Misconduct

Academic misconduct is a general term which describes academic offences detrimental to the College’s learning environment. These offences diminish the trust that is essential in the teaching and learning process. The teaching and learning process can be understood as a dialogue between professor and student that builds on existing knowledge and advances scholarship. If a student falsifies his or her side of this process, learning is compromised and the foundation upon which knowledge is built is put at risk.

While students should be concerned about the penalties that may come from academic misconduct, such as failing the course, the more serious consequence is that they will lack the knowledge and skills necessary in their chosen field of study. In order to gain understanding and advance learning, students must engage in the learning process honestly.

Academic misconduct is otherwise known as “cheating”. Cheating puts honest students at a disadvantage by failing to maintain a fair learning environment. We must all work together to prevent cheating.

• Academic misconduct can take various forms:
• Cheating on exams
• Unauthorized collaboration on individual assignments
• Adding a name to group assignment submission without contributing an appropriate share to the project
• Allowing someone else to copy your work
• Impersonating a candidate in an exam or test
• Altering or providing false medical or academic information
• Plagiarism such as using direct quotations or sections of paraphrased material without citing appropriate references; cutting and pasting from the Internet without appropriate references; and submitting essays, assignments, labs, projects, take-home exams, computer programs, etc., written, in whole or in part, by someone else
• Two areas where students can make unintentional academic mis-steps

Plagiarism means using the work of someone else, in whole or in part, without giving credit. Plagiarism is one of the most common forms of academic misconduct at college. It is important that students educate themselves about what plagiarism is because plagiarism is a form of academic misconduct that can result unintentionally. While a student may not intend to “cheat”, failing to properly follow academic guidelines in written work can result in serious penalties.

Be sure that the coursework that you submit is your own. Although requirements for assignments vary from course to course, the work you are graded on should be your own. If there is any doubt about what is allowable, be sure to seek clarification from your professor.

Generally, if an assignment requires that you to develop an idea and express it in your own words you should do just that. Quoting other people’s work in these types of assignments should be done sparingly.While quoting someone else’s writing is allowable, and in some cases required, rules and conventions must be followed for quoting and citing.

• Always avoid the following: Copying someone else’s writing word-for-word, even if it constitutes only some of your written assignment
• Paraphrasing someone else’s writing too closely, even if it constitutes only some of your written assignment
• Presenting someone else’s idea as your own without properly citing it
• Allowing someone else to write your assignment or part of it
• Submitting all or part of an assignment obtained from a commercial paper mill
• Using electronic databases or the Internet and submitting the product as your own work, even if it constitutes only some of your written work
• Writing an assignment together with someone else in the course (unless the professor has expressly allowed collaboration)
• Submitting the same paper in more than one course without the permission of the professors

More information about avoiding Plagiarism and tutorials on APA citation style are available to you in our Successful Students Learn Independently module in the Writing section. We encourage you to review this material before your first written assignment.

Unauthorized Collaboration

Unauthorized collaboration means working with others on assignments that will be submitted for a grade without the specific permission of the professor. Students MAY NOT collaborate without professor authorization. Unauthorized collaboration misrepresents joint work as the work of the individual. It leads to an unfair advantage over students who follow the rules and do their own work. Additionally, those who do not complete their work independently may not be aware of gaps in their own knowledge and skills and they do not learn all they can or should from their assignments.

Unauthorized collaboration includes:

• Working out answers to homework assignments with others
• Working on take-home work with others
• “Checking” homework answers with others
• Having someone else help write or re-write a paper

The rules regarding collaboration vary from course to course and assignment to assignment. Professors may permit collaboration on some assignments and not others in the same course. Professors have different teaching methods and goals. Some teaching methods focus on important lessons learned from working individually. These assignments are designed to develop a student’s own individual skills, knowledge and confidence. It also provides a more accurate evaluation of the individual student’s strengths and weaknesses.

Other teaching methods are designed to develop students’ abilities to solve problems together through collaboration. This provides teamwork experience: learning is achieved by sharing strategies and exchanging information. The rules of whether collaboration is authorized on a given assignment will depend on the learning goals and teaching method used. Collaboration is not permitted unless the professor has specifically authorized it. If you are unclear about the requirements of an assignment, seek clarification from your professor.

If an professor assigns a group project or allows collaboration on an assignment, students may not exceed the limits set by the professor. Even if your professor authorizes collaborative work, copying someone else’s work or allowing them to copy yours is considered academic misconduct.

These rules do not mean that students may not study together or in groups to help each other in better understanding course material. The rules apply to assignments that will be submitted for grading. Forming study groups, for example, to prepare for an in-class test that has not been pre-issued does not constitute unauthorized collaboration.

Academic Integrity Self-Check

Key Takeaways

• Every college has policies that students should review and follow. It is vital that you seek out and review the policies in place at your college as early as possible.
• The principle of academic honesty is that every student must do their own work.
• Self management requires you to take control of your life, accept responsibility, make good decisions and make changes as needed.
• Making good decisions and taking control are ways to prevent problems.
• When problems occur, work through the problem solving steps and consider how to avoid similar problems in the future.
• When making decisions, clearly define the problem before considering various solutions and choose the best solution available.

Want More?  The Learning Portal’s resources on Academic Integrity more resources on how to avoid mis-steps

A Guide for Successful Students 2nd ed. Copyright © 2023 by Irene Stewart, Aaron Maisonville, and Nicolai Zriachev, St. Clair College is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Essay on Responsibility For Students

Students are often asked to write an essay on Responsibility For Students in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Responsibility For Students

Understanding responsibility.

Responsibility means doing what you should do. For students, it’s about doing homework on time, being honest, and respecting others. It’s also about taking care of school property. Responsibility is important for everyone, especially students.

Academic Responsibility

Academic responsibility is about studying well. Students should complete their homework and assignments on time. They should study regularly, not just before exams. It’s also important to pay attention in class and ask questions if you don’t understand something.

Responsibility Towards Others

Responsibility also means respecting others. Students should respect their teachers and classmates. They should not bully or hurt others. They should help others when they can. This is part of being a responsible student.

Personal Responsibility

Personal responsibility is about taking care of oneself. Students should eat healthy food and exercise regularly. They should also get enough sleep. Taking care of one’s health is a key part of being responsible.

Responsibility Towards Environment

Students should also be responsible towards the environment. They should not litter and should recycle whenever possible. They should also learn about ways to protect the environment. This is another important part of being a responsible student.

250 Words Essay on Responsibility For Students

Responsibility is a big word that means doing what you should do. It’s about being accountable for your actions and decisions. For students, it’s about doing your homework on time, being prepared for class, and respecting others.

Academic responsibility is about your schoolwork. It means doing your homework and projects on time. Also, it means studying for your tests and exams without anyone telling you to. It’s about learning to manage your time well so that you can balance your schoolwork with other activities.

Responsibility isn’t just about your schoolwork. It’s also about how you treat others. It means being kind and respectful to your classmates and teachers. It means helping others when they need it and standing up for what is right.

Personal responsibility is about taking care of yourself. It means eating healthy, getting enough sleep, and exercising regularly. It also means making good choices, like not spending too much time on video games or TV.

Why Responsibility is Important

Responsibility is important because it helps you grow and become a better person. It prepares you for the future, where you will have to make your own decisions and take care of yourself. It also helps you earn the respect and trust of others.

In short, being a responsible student means doing your best in school, treating others with respect, and taking care of yourself. It’s not always easy, but it’s worth it.

500 Words Essay on Responsibility For Students

Responsibility is a big word that holds a lot of meaning. It means doing the right thing, taking care of your actions, and being reliable. For students, responsibility is about doing homework on time, being respectful to teachers and classmates, and managing time well.

The Importance of Responsibility

Responsibility is very important for students. It helps them grow into mature and respectful adults. When students learn to be responsible, they learn to take charge of their actions. This means they understand that what they do has an impact on others. For example, if a student does not do their homework, it can affect their grades and their teacher’s opinion of them.

Responsibility at Home

Responsibility for students starts at home. This can be as simple as keeping their room tidy or helping with household chores. Doing these tasks teaches students to be responsible for their surroundings. It also shows them that their actions can make a difference.

Responsibility at School

At school, students have many responsibilities. These include doing homework, studying for tests, and following school rules. Students also need to respect their teachers and classmates. This means listening when others are talking, and not interrupting. It also means being kind and helpful to others.

Time Management

Another important part of responsibility for students is managing time well. This means planning ahead to make sure they have enough time to do their homework and study. It also means not wasting time on things that are not important. Good time management helps students avoid stress and do better in school.

Learning from Mistakes

Everyone makes mistakes, and students are no exception. But making mistakes is not always bad. In fact, it can be a great way to learn. When students make mistakes, they should take responsibility for them. This means admitting they were wrong, and trying to make things right. It also means learning from the mistake so they don’t make it again.

In conclusion, responsibility is a very important skill for students to learn. It helps them grow into respectful and mature adults. It teaches them to be reliable, manage their time well, and learn from their mistakes. By learning to be responsible, students can make a positive impact on their own lives and the lives of others.

Remember, being responsible is not always easy, but it is always worth it. So, students, take charge of your actions and show the world how responsible you can be!

[Word Count: 500]

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Personal Responsibility Essay

Looking for an essay on personal responsibility as a student or an office worker? Or want to know more about the importance of being a responsible person? Find here a free short personal responsibility essay to get inspired!

Thesis Statement

Introduction.

• Importance of Personal Responsibility
• Personal Responsibility Strategies

Personal responsibility results to increase in the rate of success and decrease in examination cheating among the students in schools.

The word personal responsibility is the self-awareness of a person towards success of one’s life. It is also being aware of the initial goal of one’s life hence doing everything towards one’s own progress, to attain ones initial plan. Different people can define personal responsibility differently but one of the major definitions is that it is an attempt to use your own effort to be successful in everything.

The responsible person is the one who can make decisions and face the consequences of those decisions without complaining. One is responsible in life if he or she can be able to progress in life by abstaining anything, which might not be useful. Making such decisions need a strong person whose focus is purely in God and his ability to work in life without affecting anyone around negatively (Reiss, 2010).

The main aim of personal responsibility is to be able to show forth and even express the inner most beauty in visible ways, by responding to the issues of life and express your genuine love towards yourself and other people. The main aim of one’s personal responsibility is to ensure that the environment can also benefit from the gift of your appearance in that particular place or the society.

Making ones personal responsibility relies mainly on the people who want to ensure total success in everything they are doing. It also takes one’s self to be able to motivate own self to pursue a goal that seems difficult for people or even which people might neglect due to the vices that they are doing.

Importance of Personal Responsibility for a Student

There is correlation between personal responsibility of the student and their success in college. This relationship exists because personal responsibility directly affects issues that are pertinent to one’s life such as family, education, relationships as well as physical and spiritual well-being of an individual. Personal responsibility determines the success of the student in college for a number of reasons (Chester, 2008).

The first reason is self-discipline or self-control. Personal responsibility is the ability to be in control of one’s life in terms of emotions and actions. Students who do not have personal responsibility concerning their lives are prone to influences of doing what others are doing without proper reasons because they simply shift the blame on others when things do not go as they were expected. This lack of self-control comes about because any individual without a sense of personal responsibility will always be irresponsible.

A student without personal responsibility will blame the lecturer for failing in the exam. On the other hand, a student who has personal responsibility will not blame the lecture for the failure rather the student will critically analyze the reasons behind his failure and decide that they have a responsibility to pass. This explains why students who have a sense of personal responsibility have higher scores than those without personal responsibility (Bourbon, 1994).

Students who know that their actions affect others are also sensitive to the needs of others. They know when they have hurt someone and they are quick to apologize. If they wrong a teacher, they are likely to apologize. This endears them to both their fellow students and to their teachers.

This harmonious coexistence with others because of taking personal responsibility creates inner peace and concentration required by the mind for study purposes. Therefore, a student who has personal responsibility is likely to understand concepts better than a student who is at loggerheads with everyone (Chester, 2008).

Peer pressure as a factor that wields huge influence on the college students seems not to have a major effect on students who have a sense of responsibility. Personal responsibility dictates that one’s actions have consequences even when acted in a group setting.

Drug abuse, which often starts in a group setting, is not likely to affect a student who has a personal responsibility over his or her actions. This means that students who are personally responsible for their lives are unlikely to be involved in drug abuse, which negatively affects one academic performance (Chester, 2008).

The other factor that makes the student who takes personal responsibility to succeed in college more than those who do not take personal responsibility is that they do not allow circumstances to hinder their progress in life. They have a high sense of self-esteem or self worth, which makes them to confront issues critically rather than emotionally.

Students who feel that they are not in control pity themselves when they have issues to deal with in their lives thus affecting their physical health negatively. This may lead to absenteeism from classes and even suicidal cases (Chester, 2008).

Students who are aware of the word personal responsibility also manage to delay gratification. Delay of gratification is simply the ability to deny oneself pleasure in pursuit of a particular goal.

Personal responsibility enables the student to stick out or to persevere in pursuit of academic excellence thereby delaying the enjoyment of pleasures, which may affect the concentration, or peace of mind in pursuit of excellence.

They delay gratification of pleasures such as drug use, sexual relationships, and hooliganism known to affect student’s academic performance (Bourbon, 1994).

Personal Responsibility Strategies for Success

As a student, one should ensure that all the work given does not go to waste by ensuring that all people around do not copy the assignments but rather do their own work as commanded by the lecturers or professors. Copying of other student’s work robs the student competency and the necessary self-confidence required at work as well as circumstances outside college.

This will be a great stride in personal responsibility by personally handling one assignment, as it will give the student a chance to have mastery of the topic in an honest manner.

One should also ensure that the area surrounding the school is always clean and ready for use by anyone who wants to learn and all students can breathe the right air as required by the education policies. Commitment to the environment is imperative in promoting personal responsibility not only over oneself but also on the environment at large (Bourbon, 1994).

Personal timetable that will assist to manage time during study hours and to reduce time wastage during other activities is very important. One should also ensure timely completion of the school projects to avoid being at loggerheads with the lecturers.

This is because the recognition that time is a resource, it is precious, and it is out of order to waste it is the beginning of personal development (Bourbon, 1994).

There is a need to ensure that the people around are able to learn about self-responsibility and its advantages by setting a good example to them. This is because personal responsibility involves having responsibility on not only ones actions but also reviewing ones plans and goals all the time for better performance.

Goal setting enables one to review their personal progress. Goals also provide a sense of purpose to a student as they focus on ones actions and activities towards one major goal. One should break down those goals into daily goals, monthly goals and yearly goals.

Personal responsibility is an important aspect of human life. It is even more important when the student learns personal responsibility early in life. The apathy, accidents, and laziness, which lead to lower standards of living, are preventable if the students learn early in life to exercise responsibility over their own lives.

The world would certainly be a better place if the blame games stopped and people took responsibility over their actions. This change can start from the school especially if teachers take as their responsibility to instill a culture of taking responsibility among students.

Performance of college students therefore directly relates to the student’s ability to take personal responsibility over their lives. Although there is no direct correlation between college grades and success in life, there is direct correlation between the ability to take responsibility in life and to succeed elsewhere.

One of the best environments to nurture personal responsibility in one’s life is in college and students in college should take it upon themselves to ensure that they not only score better grades in life but they have also mastered the art of self responsibility which will propel them to higher heights of life.

Bourbon, T. (1994). Discipline at home and at school . New York: Brandt.

This book is about Perceptual control theory PCT on how perceptions determine actions. This theory looks into what happens in the classroom and how teachers try to bring in discipline to the students based on their perceptions.

The student on the other hand has his or her perceptions about what discipline is. This book looks into human behavioral system on how perceptions affect habit and performance of students in the classroom. Thomas Walter Bourbon is a retired professor of psychology who focused his study on physiology and human perceptions.

He has worked with medical research institutions to develop the perceptual control theory into an alternative science. He is now a consultant with various schools and colleges on how they may apply the perception control theory to deal with behavioral problems in school, homes, and in clinical settings.

Chester, C. (2008). Building classroom discipline. Boston: Pearson Education.

This book is indeed helpful to teachers who wish to understand how to model discipline in their classrooms. It looks into the various ways and models of doing this in a way that involves the student.

It shows the impact of discipline on students and how to motivate students in self-responsibility. It also delves into the new ways and trends in the application of classroom discipline. This book is helpful to beginner teachers and teachers in colleges in handling adult students.

Charles Chester the author of the book is a professor in San Diego University and he has many awards accorded to him due to his contribution in the field of classroom discipline. Due to his wealth of experience in classroom, teaching his work is worth of study.

Reiss, S. (2010). What happened to personal responsibility? Chicago, Journal of Psychology (8).

This journal article is a critique on the education system as well as the society as a whole for their failure to instill personal responsibility in the life of students.

Institutions are the ones blamed for individual failures. The author gives an example where if a student fails in the exam or caught cheating in national exams, it is not the student who is to blame but the education system. This kind of attitude irks the author as he questions the kind of society, which we are building without taking responsibility for the consequences of one’s actions.

Steven Reiss is a contributor and a commentator on social issues in the Journal of Psychology today. He teaches psychology in Ohio State University. His research on human motivation makes his work on issues of discipline and personal responsibility authentic.

• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2024, January 2). Personal Responsibility Essay. https://ivypanda.com/essays/personal-responsibility/

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Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Personal Responsibility Essay." January 2, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/personal-responsibility/.

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