Advice for parents of college students
– Let there be a period of time when your child doesn’t hear from you. You don’t need to be in touch constantly.
– When your child calls upset, you’re hearing the worst of it. Don’t immediately react if your child calls to complain. Two hours later, they’ll probably be fine.
– Don’t underestimate your child.
ó Dr. Nan Zimmerman,
Counseling Services,
Catawba College- Listen, provide support and encourage.
– Be a sounding board, yet allow your student to decide what he or she should do.- Encourage your student to become familiar with all the resources, including full-time professional staff, in the residence hall and at the college/university.
– Identify a regular time that is convenient for both you and your student to talk person to person on the phone, TWICE A WEEK. This may be difficult for both parties at first, but it encourages independence and trust.
If you need three times a week, start with that and move to twice a week, then maybe once a week.
– Think about setting up a Facebook account. It is an easy way to communicate with your student daily.
– Send a surprise package, or even better, an old-fashioned hand-written letter.
– Encourage your student to get involved in one activity that he or she has always enjoyed. It helps to balance the academic and social schedule without taxing it.
– A parent’s job is to give children roots and wings. The roots part is easy, but the wings part is hard.
Parents need time to adjust to the wings part.
ó Dr. Gerald Kowalski, director of housing, University of Georgia