Today’s
parents are much more involved in their children’s education than were their
own parents. This does not stop when they enter a post-secondary institution and
not even in the workforce as Michigan State research found. This generation of PTA parents is paying for
the soaring costs of higher education and wants to be informed and in contact
with the institutions in which they see themselves ‘consumers’. With parents registering for their children’s’
classes and calls to the dean’s office, has it gone too far? Should colleges
and universities embrace the heightened family involvement or try to discourage
it?
A recent
case in Ohio led to a student seeking and gaining a restraining order against
her parents. The university has supported the student to the point of providing
a scholarship for her last year after her parents pulled their support. The
mother of the student is now filing for repayment of the $66,000 she spent on
the student’s education. While this case may be extreme it sets up a case that
parents want to involved in their children’s education beyond the usually parameters.
Are parents, students, or both the ‘customers’ we are serving in higher
education? In this case the institution supported the student and it made a
statement, whether intended or not, that ‘helicopter’ parents are not supported
at the institution.
Universities
and colleges are taking steps to include parents, but also to give their
students room to breathe. They are using clever tactics particularly at
orientation sessions to set the tone for these relationships. Several
universities are creating orientation sessions for parents while the students
are registering from class. This gives the student the opportunity to make
these decisions by themselves. The University of Vermont is doing something
interesting in creating a position of ‘parent bouncers’ to help keep parents
away from student sessions during orientation. These students provide
information and distraction to the parents, creating that separation from their
children. Other universities are also using parent orientation sessions to have
hard discussions with parents about letting their children make some of their
educational decisions on their own. Parent organizations are also flourishing to
help parents feel more connected to the institutions on their own basis and not
through their children.
Family Educational
Rights and Privacy Act also greatly play into institution interaction with
parents. The purpose of this act was to:
“to assure parents of students, and
students themselves if they are over the age of 18 or attending an institution
or postsecondary education, access to their education records and to protect
such individuals’ rights to privacy by limiting the transferability of their
records without their consent.”
While the original intent was more to protect this information
from being released to the public it has also been used as a tool to protect
the student from the parent. The student now has the ability to sign off on whom
can have access to their financial and educational records. This gives
administrators information on what information can be released to parents to
try to avoid situations like the restraining order in Ohio case.
Colleges
and universities are faced with a decision about the future of family
relations. Most institutions are embracing this new level of support from
parent and family members. This style of parenting begins as soon as the child
is born and not something as professionals in higher education we can change,
but only embrace. Though sometimes frustrating it is in the best interest of
the student and parent relationship that we work with both for the future
development of that student.
Sources:
Connectingg the dots... Education and the Law
Vol. 20, No. 4, December 2008, 301-316
Family-Friendly FERPA Policies: Affirming Parental Parnerships.
New Directions for Student Services, 2001
"Helicopter Parents"
Encyclopedia of Women in Today's World
Parent Trap
by Eric Wills
July 22, 2005
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Is A Restraining Order Necessary?
by Peg Streep
January 8, 2013
Psychology Today
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