Varsity Brands 2024 White Paper Study

Low Spirit and Academic Expectations Lower school spirit among students correlates with lower expectations for higher-education achievements. 51% of low-spirited students anticipate receiving either a graduate or bachelor’s degree. Parents of lower-spirited students have similar expectations, reporting weaker academic performance and not anticipating higher-ed accomplishments for their children. 57% of parents of low-spirited students believe that their child is performing above average academically.

Additionally, 40% of parents of low-spirited students expect for their child to receive a graduate or bachelor’s degree.

Social Media

Social media has undergone a significant evolution, emerging as one of the most influential forces in today’s society. Social network platforms have almost tripled their total user base in the last decade, from 970 million in 2010 to over 5.04 billion users in January 2024 4 . Reflecting this widespread adoption, our survey findings revealed that 81% of students and 72% of parents acknowledge their daily use of social media apps. However, the rise of social media usage is not without its drawbacks. It can impart a distorted sense of reality, particularly regarding appearance, with the rise of social media influencers and perceived societal success. This darker side is reflected in the experiences of 43% of students who admit feeling more negatively toward themselves after using social media. Students with lower school spirit exhibit a reduced ability to resist negative self-views.

83% of low-spirited students have experienced heightened negative feelings about themselves after using social media.

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