The Child Trap from the New Yorker is a very interesting article and it takes a different appoach. It is about how parents are over protective and such. They use terms such as "helicopter-parenting and death-grip-parenting." Since the article was different than most related to this issue, it brought up many truths I would have never noticed. It brought up points of how parents try to involve their students in extra-curricular activities to keep them out of trouble. They talk about how parents try to use additional services for helping them apply to college (ex: Application boot camp and Essay writing workshop). They pay enormous amounts to get a step on the competition. There even was an example of a student going to college away from home and parents moving fifteen minutes away from their daughter.
The last example I can actually relate to. It was the second day of college, and a group of friends and I went out. We knew we would be back late so I should have called her. By the end of the night, it was close to two or three in the morning. For some reason, my phone kept ringing. I decided to check it after someone was calling me numerous times. And there it was, it was like I was home again. She was calling at two on a Saturday night. Even when I go away to college she still checks up on me. The next morning I called and said my phone was on silient. She was angry but my elaborate excuses were too good. She is very gullable so it was easy to convince her that was the reason. As weeks went on, I call her once in a while just to check up. She realizes I am busy and have things to do.
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This situation sounds like it could be a story out of my life. My mother expects calls from me at least every other day. If she doesn't get a phone call, she gets upset with me and thinks that I don't care about her enough to call. She wants to stay updated on my life to make sure I'm staying in control amidst the pressures of college. I don't consider this to be a form of "helicopter" parent invasion of privacy. Rather, it is a sign of love. Parents want to make sure their children are headed in the right direction for the future, and the only way that can be done effectively is by maintaining consistent communication with their children. The mother in the posted situation wanted to make sure her child was home safely after what could have been the typical adventurous weekend night at college. Many students fall under the influence of their new friends and end up making decisions that they later regret. As much as we students think we are invincible and mature enough to make wise decisions, we still undeniably need advice from our parents who have "been through it all." They help us keep our head on straight and slap us back into reality when we start to think we know it all.
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