Category — Just for Fun

We’ve offered some suggestions for holiday gifts for your college student for the past two years.  We still think they are good, timeless suggestions.  Check out our previous posts for ideas for gift books for your college student and general holiday gifts for your student.

This year, we’d like to go smaller and offer some suggestions for stocking stuffers for your student.  Obviously, not all of these suggestions will be appropriate for all students.  Think about your student’s situation, interests, and progress in her college career.  Your freshman and your college senior will need and enjoy different things.  We’re sure you’ll find something on this list to spark your imagination.  Get creative!

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As you drop your student off for college, and then return to your empty nest, you may be thinking mostly about how much you’ll miss him.  You may be worrying about how quiet the house will seem without him.  You may or may not be worried about how well he will succeed at school, –  but you’re also thinking about the hole that remains in your family.

You’ll certainly miss your student.  And, although you may not believe it as you return to your empty (or at least emptier) house, you will get used to having your student away.  What you may or may not have thought about are some of the advantages of moving your college student out of the house and away at school.

We’d like to offer a slightly light-hearted reminder that there is an upside to sending your student away to college.

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It’s official.  The term “helicopter parent” has made it into the new Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary.  According to the publishers of the dictionary, the term has finally reached the “lexicographical tipping point.”  There are a lot of helicopter parents out there, and there is a lot being said about helicopter parents.

According to the new edition of the Merriam Webster Dictionary, the term helicopter parent was first used in 1989 and means: a parent who is overly involved in the life of his or her child. The term is not limited to college parents, but many college parents have clearly earned the title.  We find the important word in this definition to be “overly.” There is nothing wrong with being involved in your college student’s life, the difficulty is when that involvement is more than providing support on the sidelines.

We’ve written several earlier posts about college helicopter parents and the importance of the right kind of involvement.  We invite you to take some time to read our posts and think about whether the “overly” word applies to your involvement with your student.

Interestingly, at the same time that helicopter parent has entered the dictionary, so has the term “boomerang child.”  First coming into use in 1988, this term refers to a child who returns to live in the family home, especially for financial reasons. At a time when some estimate as many as 87% of college graduates are returning home to live, at least for a while, the term refers to an experience common in many homes around the country.

Read our earlier post on boomerang kids to help you cope and/or prepare for what has almost become an inevitable phase for many college graduates.

College Parent Central has just turned two!  We began this website on April 1, 2009 – somehow April Fool’s Day seemed appropriate for something that launched us into the unknown.  Two years later, we continue to believe even more firmly than ever that college parents are an important part of student success.

After two years of writing about college parenting, talking to college parents, working with college students, and working and speaking with professional colleagues, we have learned much and continue to feel that we have a place in helping parents.  We are grateful to those people who have shared their stories and wisdom and helped us as we continue to reach out to parents who may find our information helpful,

Our purpose

We began College Parent Central two years ago with five basic principles.  Two years later, these basic beliefs still hold true for us.

• We believe that parents can be important partners in their child’s education from pre-school through college.
• We believe that most parents want to be involved in their child’s college experience.
• We believe that parents do have a place in their child’s college experience.
• We believe that many parents don’t know how to be involved in their child’s college experience.
• We believe that many parents don’t understand today’s college experience. (Those of us who attended college ourselves need to learn how the college experience has changed in the twenty-first century.)

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As parents of traditional college age children, we know that our children live in a different world.  Intellectually, we know that the world changes – ever faster – and that our children have grown up with many different experiences than we’ve had.  Sometimes, however, we forget – or just plain don’t realize – how different that world truly is.

Each year Beloit College releases The Beloit College Mindset List. Since the list was first published in 1998, in addition to providing college professors a chuckle, it has also proved to be an eye-opening look at “the cultural touchstones that shape the lives of students entering college” that year.  The list was originated by Beloit professor Tom McBride and Public Affairs Director Ron Nief as a reminder to faculty members that many references used in class might be outdated, but it has become a much more comprehensive look at the worldview of current college students.

We include here, for your consideration, amusement and possible consternation, a few of the items that are true for current college students. These are taken from the last four Mindset lists. So if your student was born between 1989 and 1992, consider some of the following.  (You may view the entire lists, by year, at www.beloit.edu/mindset.)  If you sometimes wonder why you feel as though you don’t know your college-age student, read on.

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Many students have difficulty adjusting to college during those first few weeks of September.  This is especially true for college freshmen, but may be true for upperclassmen as well.  Those first few weeks back at school, away from home and family, require some shifting of thinking and habits.  Students miss home and family – and often the family pet as well.

 In September 2004, Kathy Bradley, Director of Health and Counseling Center and Associate Dean of College Life at Susquehanna University began a program called Dog Days which is now nationally recognized and duplicated at several colleges around the country.  Bradley’s program, which was designed to help freshmen with the adjustment to college by giving students an increased sense of familiarity and belonging, was modeled after programs using animal assisted group therapy.

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We know that most colleges work hard to make the admission experience a memorable one for both students and their parents.  Students very often make their decision about which college to attend based on their college visit.  There are many factors that go into a terrific admissions visit, and most of us haven’t considered some of the details that are important. A recent contest sponsored by a higher education marketing firm, TargetX, sought the best college bathrooms in the country.  The results are in.

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From time to time, an interesting idea or story may come along that gives us, as parents, insight into our students.  An interesting item in the Boston Globe recently reported on some college students’ approach to saving our environment.

 The University of Rhode Island recently hired an energy services company to conduct an experiment regarding students’ behavior around some wasteful energy habits.  The school chose three habits common on campus: leaving computers on when they weren’t being used, keeping heat or air conditioners on when no one was in the room, and taking excessively long showers. 

 The university then set out to conduct a semester long program to see if they could change student behavior in these areas. They asked students to pledge to reduce energy consumption and then they posted reminders in dorms. They concluded that, in the area of environmental conservation, college students may be teachable!

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