Today’s parents are more directly involved in their children’s lives, in their school work, and their daily activities than ever before. Many tend to hover over their children, helping them with homework, and closely monitoring their progress in the classroom and on the playing field. Such incessant hovering has earned this generation of parents the Helicopter Parent label. Is it necessary, though, to hover over college-age students? According to Dr. Adam Troy, director of research for the Enrollment & Retention Services Division of Education Dynamics, “Helicopter parents have received a bad rap, but the reality is, some level of parental involvement is necessary for a student’s successful transition to college.”
The book, Your Freshman is Off to College: A Month-By-Month Guide To The First Year is expressly designed to help parents avoid the helicopter trap and find a healthy balance to support their student’s college transition. Your Freshman is Off to College offers a handy month-by month guide for parents as the first year of college naturally unfolds. This book, dealing with serious topics, reflects a fun, informative look at the first year for parents of new college students, making “tongue-in-cheek” connections between a child’s first months of life to this newest important stage of development – freshman year.
While Your Freshman is Off to College creates an engaging and conversational read, practical research in higher education and psychology is embedded throughout. Researchers and practitioners in higher education have identified the first year of college as a distinct developmental stage. Parents feel the need to support their children through this stage, because, let’s face it: for parents and their children, a lot is at stake. Parents hope that their children will be successful in college, so that they can secure jobs for themselves upon graduation, and with the rising cost of higher education, parents feel the need to protect this huge investment. Though it’s natural for parents to want what is best for their children, some experts believe that hovering can stunt growth and undermine college success. Your Freshman is Off to College provides parents with the tools to support their children through the college transition, but from a healthy distance.

Laurie Hazard and Stephanie Carter’s book, Your Freshman is Off to College: A Month-by-Month Guide to the First Year, is available on Amazon and as the featured book on www.collegereadyparent.org.