A SURVEY OF Irish students has shown that 40 per cent believe abortion should be freely available in this country.
The Campus.ie survey asked students: Should abortion be allowed in Ireland?
Of the 4,000 students who responded, 48 per cent said yes, but only under medical guidance, while 40 per cent said ‘yes, freely available’, 6 per cent said no and 6 per cent said they don’t know.
Asked about their religion, 56 per cent of the students were Catholic, 3 per cent Protestant, 7 per cent non denominational, 23 per cent atheist, 1 per cent Muslim, .1 per cent Jewish and .3 per cent Hindu.
College life
The students were asked have they ever considered dropping out of college due to stress, to which 35 per cent said yes and 65 per cent said no.
On the subject of bullying, 71 per cent said they have not been subjected to bullying, while 23 per cent said they had been subjected to mental bullying, 4 per cent said they had been subjected to physical bullying and 2 per cent said they had been subjected to cyber bullying.
Asked if they had a chance to fill out their CAO again, would they change their course, 31 per cent said yes while 69 per cent said no. When it comes to the influence people had on their choice of college course, the top two influences were their parents (20 per cent) and themselves (53 per cent).
Meanwhile, 83 per cent said they had never had an STI test, while 2 per cent had had three or more, 3 per cent had had two and 12 per cent had had one.
Drugs
When questioned on drugs, half of the students surveyed said they had tried marijuana, while 49 per cent said that they had never taken illegal drugs.
However, 16 per cent had taken ecstasy/MDMA, 9 per cent cocaine, 8 per cent hallucinogenics, 4 per cent ketamine and .27 per cent heroin.
Jobs and money
On the topic of part time jobs, 50 per cent do not have one, while 16 per cent work 12 – 20 hours a week.
When it comes to funding, 41 per cent said their parents support them while they are in college, 23 per cent get a student grant, 19 per cent work during the semester, 8 per cent worked over the summer and saved, and 4 per cent took out a loan.
However, 1 per cent of the students said they run their own business during college.
When asked about debt, 66 per cent said they are not in debt, while 6 per cent are less than €100 in debt. However, 5 per cent are more than €5000 in debt.
When it comes to jobs, just 9 per cent are absolutely certain they will find a job related to their area of study after graduation, while 15 per cent are very confident. But 30 per cent are not confident about this at all.
Online activity
Just over three quarters own a smartphone, while 73 per cent of the students use a debit card to buy online.
Facebook is visited 10 times or more a day by 27 per cent of the students, while just 1 per cent do not have an account with the popular social networking site.
TDs are due to vote on the proposed Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013 this evening. The ballot will be held in the Dáil chamber after 5.05pm today.
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