When I started college, I think my parents were disappointed I went to IPFW. "What, you're still going to live at home?" When I quit after a year and a half and joined the Army, I could almost read their minds. "Ah, a little peace and quite at last." How times change. Parents now have so much trouble letting go that universities such as Indiana and Purdue have to conduct orientation sessions on it.
The tendency for today's parents to hover is so prevalent that experts coined a nickname: "helicopter parents."Possible factors contributing to the behavior range from rising tuition costs -- parents see themselves as a customer -- to cell phones, which provide instant access.DeeDee Siniard, Bedford, is the first to admit old habits die hard. The Bedford mother fished out a cell phone during IU's orientation last week and sent a text message to her daughter, Shalana: "R u ok?"
The worst of them - those who do unethical things, like write their kid's term papers - are branded "Black Hawks," a nod to the souped-up military helicopters.
"I also call them tether parents," says Heaton, who directs FSU's freshman orientation program. "It's like a leash. Students are afraid to make decisions about classes or anything without calling home."
