At the University of Calgary, administrators are shaking their heads over parents who just can't seem to let go:
...university and college staff are walking a fine line these days, trying to manage parents who can't let go and students embracing all the independence living away from home provides.
"Parents are definitely along for the ride now, more than they ever have been," said Jim Dunsdon, director of resident services at the University of Calgary...
Joel Lynn, manager of residence services at Mount Royal College, said nothing surprises him any more in the lengths parents will go to monitor their child's education, particularly of those living on campus..."The most bizarre was the Vancouver mother who moved into her daughter's room."
In that case the mother, worried her daughter couldn't combat a cold alone, stayed a week. Staff forced the parent to leave when she began meddling in the daughter's roommates' affairs, telling the other three students when to go to bed, do their homework and to stop watching television.
Ah ha ha ha! That's too funny. Can you imagine? My mom couldn't wait to get me out of the house when I entered college; I can't imagine her moving in with me over a cold, much less ordering my roommates about.
Most agree the new parent is an extension of a new breed of student, commonly referred to as the "millennia student." Born in 1980 or later and emerging from structured lives, these students rely on parental involvement and many don't mind if their mom or dad checks in.
"These are kids who, all their lives, have been woken up for breakfast, driven to school, picked up, then driven to soccer practice," said Lynn. "They run on structure and their parents aren't sure their kids can survive without them."
Wouldn't college be the logical point for the parents to step back and find out?
Posted by kswygert at April 5, 2004 11:01 AM