College “Helicopter Parents” are Worried about Content, Too

Yikes! Referrers and No Post!

Welcome Joanne Jacobs readers! You probably expected a post on the “helicopter parents” piece from the link at her post to me.

Some nerve. Here it is:
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Sue Schellenbarger’s piece on “parent bouncers” at colleges appears to be all about parents not willing to let their kids going away to college for the first time be independent. They therefore bug administrators about classes and other matters, and administrators apparently think that the interest is overbearing.

But let’s go to the text for a moment:

Ms. Rosalez (a college parent–Ed.) and others like her are part of a cultural shift toward more involved parenting — which many of today’s students welcome. There are some good reasons for it. The trend reflects societal fears about campus safety, amid growing media coverage of campus murders and deaths, mounting mental-health problems, and rising alcohol and drug arrests at colleges and universities.

Soaring college tuitions play a role, too. Increasingly, “parents see the institution as a product, and they’re consumers. They want to know their investment is being protected,” Dr. Mullendore says.

Okay, fine. My initial points:

• Parents have legitimate concerns about the above items.
• University information about what’s really going on in these areas is sometimes sketchy to non-existent.
• (the place where Joanne and I disagree) I think there’s an undercurrent at colleges that essentially says: “Your kid is ours now, just write the checks and shut up.”

On the last item, I don’t think I’m imagining things, because of this later sentence:

Administrators prefer that students pick their own majors and courses.

Really? Without parental involvement (clearly implied)? I think a little parental consultation is appropriate, especially given some of the politically-correct nonsense in some “courses” in certain academic departments.

Thanks for reading.
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UPDATE: Here’s just one example (WARNING: Contains frequent profanities uttered by the professor, and discussion of sexually-oriented topics) of why parents should have more than a passing interest in course content. Note how the prof involved deliberately chose NOT to teach most advertised course content in the interest of HIS “eccentric” agenda (HT Rhode Island escapee KelliPundit).