One photo that was making the rounds on the social media last week was a combo of two pictures, on one side showing Iranian students fighting for their freedom, and on the other side Maltese University students fighting to grab as many €5 notes as they could after a balloon filled with them was popped.

It was a sad, yet realistic perspective of how materialistic our society has become, while elsewhere there are nations which are still oppressed and far from achieving what we take for granted on a daily basis.

But it is our fault that we have come to this.

We give our students stipends to encourage them to go to University. We are paying them to study. The country’s small size enables our students to remain living with their parents should they wish to do so, and therefore have their bills paid and food ready on the table without them needing to lift a finger. But yet we give them money, supposedly for their studies.

In other countries, students have to pay for their university courses. Many have to leave the comfort of their parents’ home and settle elsewhere. Many others have to get a part-time job to sustain themselves while they are studying. They are unable to buy their first car because their other expenses are too high. They have to seek accommodation, and pay for it.

Whereas, in Malta, just trying to find a parking space at the University grounds is an almost impossible mission. Many of the students in Malta drive to their lectures.

Matters have been rendered easy for our students. And this is not preparing them well for the rest of their lives. Many find the shift from studying to the working world traumatic, because the differences are palpable. It is no wonder that, as employees, they crumble at the first difficulty or else expect to be mollycoddled on the job in the same way they are treated with kid gloves.

It’s because they have got used to getting all that they want and, as soon as someone expects something from them, or some extra sacrifice, they collapse.

The €5 note balloon pop brought about condemnation from many quarters, but don’t be surprised if the exercise is repeated in the next years.

But there is some hope. A student organisation was among those who did not like the way Freshers’ Week was organised. In a statement, the student branch of the Graffitti movement criticised the way the activity was “turned into a platform for big companies to sell their brand and create a hyper-consumerist environment”.

“There are many clear indications that the university’s primary ethos has become consumerism, bit the rich academic experience and social conscience that such an education institution has to provide.” It then went on to mention the money-grabbing incident which “only highlighted these problems”.

It was good to note that there are some students who believe that what happened is wrong.

At least, not all is lost.