Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Do You Know "Helicopter Parents?"

The Journal Sentinal is running a story about intrusive parents who try to manage their college student's lives.   I have heard of such people, calling professors, deans, or others to try to solve problems that their kids face.  Clearly, kids and parents are more connected than they have been in the past, thanks to cell phones, so it is not completely unexpected.

Personally, I haven't had that happen yet.  I imagine that this might be more of a problem at smaller colleges where they encourage the idea that professors are particularly accessible.   With over 11,000 students, faculty are generally seen as less available than smaller institutions, so it may mitigate this issue.

How about you?  Any "helicopter parents" pressuring you to take care of their kid?  
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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I've not had any yet, but if I did, I would just wave the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act at them.

I think it speaks poorly for young adults to encourage or allow their parents to get involved. Doing so, to me, is a huge red warning flag that the student just may not be ready for college. I'd have been mortified to have my parents even think about doing such a thing when I was in college.

9:23 AM, January 30, 2008

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