The answer is yes. College is all about growing up and learning to fend for yourself in this big wide world. Part of which means your parents pushing you out of the nest, forcing you to use those little measly wings of yours. You either learn to soar or hit the ground trying. Now of course, it’s everyone’s first time living life. Unless you believe in reincarnation, I highly doubt your past life as a donkey will give sufficient experiences when learning to register for classes and deal with a messy roommate. We all need help here and there, especially from our parents. However, it seems that this new style of helicopter-parenting is taking things a step too far.
The Facebook group Christopher Newport University Parents, Alumni, Students & Staff is a useful little online community with over 3,000 members serving as a way for those involved with CNU to communicate and share helpful information. Some parents, however, seem to be using this outlet as a way of manifesting and projecting their own personal worries and anxieties about their children onto everyone else. Don’t worry, parent, your baby of 240 months is perfectly capable of reading their email all on their own!
All joking aside, yes, it can be super helpful to have a parent ask a question or find out information for those unable or to just serve as an additional source. However, some students have expressed that they feel some parents are taking it too far. College really is about learning how to be an adult. Part of that includes trial and error of falling on your face. Unfortunately, yes your child is going to fail a time or two. Yes, your child is going to face push back and adversity. It’s all a part of the process. We know a parent’s anxiety comes from a place of love and care. To that, thank you parents! We appreciate all that you do!
Do not fear, CNU does their very best to ensure we are set up for success. Trust me, if you saw the number of emails we get, you’d wonder how anyone has any questions about anything. With that being said, the next time your kid calls you upset about something that is likely somewhere in their email, maybe consider closing out of Facebook and saying “suck it up, buttercup!”
