Heather Hobson
|
Colleges and universities now need to cater to more than just freshmen—they have to provide multi-day orientations for those pesky parents who just can’t bare parting with their kids. Surveys show 74% of institutions said that this year they were hosting parent receptions on move-in day, up from 7% in 2003. So, what’s the deal with clingy parents? Some suspect it’s the carnivalization of rites of passage. Weddings used to be a few hours long. Now they’re week long events. The same goes for sending kids to college. Others think parents are realizing how much they missed out on childhood years and are trying to make up for it in those last days. Colleges see parental interference as a detriment to new students’ assimilation on campus. When the folks are around they can’t gather students for meetings and events. They’ve had to adapt by providing parent programs to ease their anxieties and get them out of the students’ ways.  For Jase Ebersole of Vicksburg, Miss., moving into a first-year dormitory at Boston College in late August took only a few hours. But for his parents, Bruce and Story Ebersole, saying goodbye took six days.
"We could have left sooner, but we figured we'd take an extra day to show him around," Story Ebersole explained over a catered sirloin lunch, part of the three-day parent-orientation program. As for actually bidding adieu to her son, she said, "I'm trying not to think about it."
At George Washington University in Washington, D.C., move-in day for freshmen is on a Saturday, yet Fred Siegel, dean of freshmen, says he routinely notices 20 to 30 parents sitting with their children at convocation the following Monday.
(usatoday)References: usatoday Filed In: |
Parents On Campus
Edit
Frosh Week For Mom & Dad
Edit
FOUR WAYS TO REACT: vote, favorite, add more examples of Parents On Campus or comment about Frosh Week For Mom & Dad.
|
TREND HUNTER is the world's largest trend spotting and cool hunting community. It is an explosion of cool trends and ideas, fueled by a global network of trend spotters and cool hunters. By tracking the evolution of cool, Trend Hunters stimulate creativity and generate breakthrough ideas. About Us Trends Trend Reports Tools Store RSS (98 Flavors) Innovation Keynotes Exploiting Chaos Terms of Use Tips / Contact Join 0.2143 - Hosted by web2 Trends and Content Copyright © TREND HUNTER Inc. All Rights Reserved.
|
