<p><a href=“http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2010/07/16/see[/url]”>http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2010/07/16/see</a></p>
<p>At the same time humorous and sad</p>
<p>I have to say that . . . this mom comes across as a bit disconnected from her offspring. She lets him “figure it out” when he has a broken leg. She sounds more concerned about the biology grade than about his attitude (the bigger problem). </p>
<p>It is all hard. Sometimes things are imploding for your kid and you are clueless. Other times it seems like things are imploding and yet the kid is learning and won’t make that series of choices again.</p>
<p>At least this kid is asking his parents (and other students) for help.</p>
<p>One of mine just went into the cone of silence, not answering phone or emails. He was in academic trouble but didn’t want anyone to know, compounding his problems.</p>
<p>This excerpt did not do much for me. I’m amazed that the young man is in such close communication with his mother. But then, like Olymom points out, the concern over the leg which would have gotten me twitching and maybe even heading out there, did not garner as much attention and concern as other things.</p>
<p>The article points to an important dimension of coptering – the parent assumes that s/he knows better than the student (or friends) because of a certain set of experiences. In this case, the author is familiar with academia and is having trouble reconciling professional knowledge with a personal situation.</p>