So, I sent a note to the Mom's College Cram Course panel, venting that I was tired of reading about helicopter parents, that I doubted it was such a big problem. I was informed that I was out of touch. Several panelists also pointed me to a recent series of opinions on "Have College Freshmen Changed?"- The pieces are worth reading -- and they just may cause some attitude adjustment.
Here's a sampling of areas covered/some do overlap: students are in touch with their parents an average of 13.4 times a week; they don't feel the need to make new friends since they can so readily stay in touch with high school friends; parents view students as an investment, a human asset class, and that the investment must be protected (give me my money back, my kid flunked a course...); parents aren't preparing our kids to be the young adults they should be when they arrive at college but allowing them to stay in a familial cocoon far too long.
Think about your own experience; it might have been like mine. I called home once a week, maybe wrote an occasional letter though I received far more. I was on my own as were my new friends, making decisions, determining which courses to take, doing foolish things that we didn't necessarily feel compelled to share with parents.
So please absorb the points made in the Times and then on Monday, I will share some personal comments from our panelists.
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I was just discussing this with friends and family last week: College kids regularly e-mail their papers home to mom or dad to vet before handing the work to the professor. I could not have imagined doing that, had the technology existed...
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