How Often Should A Kid Away At College Check In With Mom And Dad?
I have two kids in college. My son Jack goes to Georgia Tech in Atlanta. My daughter Anna goes to LSU in Baton Rouge. Both of those college campuses have been rocked by sad and sickening news over the past five days.
In Baton Rouge, an alleged hazing incident took the life of an 18-year-old freshman. In Atlanta, a Georgia Tech student was shot by campus police in an incident in which it is alleged he threatened officers with a knife.
As parent anytime you get disturbing news that originated from the same place your kids are you get nervous. Fortunately, both kids picked up the phone and sent a text saying they were fine and were not connected to these sad incidents.
It was really nice to hear from both kids in this case. That brings me to this point about the parent to college kid communication paradigm. In my day there were no cell phones. There might have been a phone in the hallway of the dorm or if you had an apartment it would be a long distance call. It was a lot harder to check in with Mom and Dad but we did it at least once a week.
With today's technology, I theoretically can communicate with both of my children via voice, text, video, and probably some other fancy internet way 24 hours a day seven days a week. The problem always lies with them communicating back to me.
Is it wrong for me to want to verify the health and happiness of my kids once, maybe twice a week? Am I being too much of a helicopter parent? The fact is this, I don't want to interfere with their lives, I just want to remain a part of their lives.