Contact with Your Boarder: Frequency and Method

creative1
Fri, 17 Aug 2012 12:49:32 +0000

I think it can really vary from family to family. There’s nothing wrong with setting a frequency you feel comfortable with. Make sure your child understands your views on the issue and knows how often you expect them to keep in contact. These are 14-15 year old kids so I don’t consider it being a helicopter parent to expect regular communication. They are not in college, and despite being in boarding school, still need parental involvement IMHO. We are a close-knit family. In boarding school, I would have contact with my kids 2-3 times per week via a combo of phone, email and facebook. Phone conversations could be as short as a few minutes or as long as 45 minutes depending on schedules and what the child was needing to talk about at the time. In addition, we were fortunate to live close enough to attend sporting events and other events.

Although most communication is electronic these days, kids love mail so an occasional card or small package is always appreciated to clear the cobwebs out of the post office box. :)