2008 Woodie Awards
Parents propelling children to the top
Chris Curtis
Issue date: 11/15/07 Section: Campus
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11/15/07 - Students, feeling smothered by parents? Well, according to a new study, heavy parental involvement during students' college years may be beneficial.
The practice of "helicopter parenting," the phenomenon of parental hyper-involvement in student affairs, received a much-needed boost, according to a recent nationwide study that surveyed college students, including participants from the University of Rhode Island.
"Helicopter parenting" has long been looked down upon as detrimental to students' growth and development. Now, new research published by the National Survey of Student Engagement suggests that not only may the practice not be as harmful as commonly believed, it may in fact be beneficial.
Sponsored by The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, the report, entitled "Experiences That Matter: Enhancing Student Learning and Success," is available online at nsse.iub.edu, or students can obtain it for $20 from the Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research.
The surprising conclusions detailed in the report are based on the results of a survey distributed to hundreds of four-year schools in the United States and Canada. Of the 610 colleges and universities participating, 24 were randomly selected to receive further questions. Participants at these institutions, including URI, were asked to respond to questions intended to gauge the extent of students' home support networks.
Although not intended specifically to test for the presence or effects of "helicopter parenting," the new questions were designed with the phenomenon in mind, said Robert Gonyea, associate director of the NSSE. The responses surprised even the survey's creators.
"Probably half of us thought that the results were going to turn out the other way," Gonyea said. "We thought that we were going to find that the more involvement students had with their parents, the less well-off the students were going to be."
Of the 4,518 first year students who participated, 13 percent reported having parents who intervened frequently on their behalf with college officials, while 25 percent reported occasional intervention from parents. Although no correlation to increased grades was discovered, these students reported higher levels of engagement in their education, as well as a greater incidence of participation in "deep learning activities," such as internships and study abroad.
The practice of "helicopter parenting," the phenomenon of parental hyper-involvement in student affairs, received a much-needed boost, according to a recent nationwide study that surveyed college students, including participants from the University of Rhode Island.
"Helicopter parenting" has long been looked down upon as detrimental to students' growth and development. Now, new research published by the National Survey of Student Engagement suggests that not only may the practice not be as harmful as commonly believed, it may in fact be beneficial.
Sponsored by The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, the report, entitled "Experiences That Matter: Enhancing Student Learning and Success," is available online at nsse.iub.edu, or students can obtain it for $20 from the Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research.
The surprising conclusions detailed in the report are based on the results of a survey distributed to hundreds of four-year schools in the United States and Canada. Of the 610 colleges and universities participating, 24 were randomly selected to receive further questions. Participants at these institutions, including URI, were asked to respond to questions intended to gauge the extent of students' home support networks.
Although not intended specifically to test for the presence or effects of "helicopter parenting," the new questions were designed with the phenomenon in mind, said Robert Gonyea, associate director of the NSSE. The responses surprised even the survey's creators.
"Probably half of us thought that the results were going to turn out the other way," Gonyea said. "We thought that we were going to find that the more involvement students had with their parents, the less well-off the students were going to be."
Of the 4,518 first year students who participated, 13 percent reported having parents who intervened frequently on their behalf with college officials, while 25 percent reported occasional intervention from parents. Although no correlation to increased grades was discovered, these students reported higher levels of engagement in their education, as well as a greater incidence of participation in "deep learning activities," such as internships and study abroad.