So far I've been lucky

The 'helicopter' parent phenomena is one that I've mostly managed to avoid, though I've certainly heard the stories. I remember talking to a woman who works in the Registrar's Office who fielded a call from a mother asking if she would check that her son was eating his vegetables. That's just wrong on so many counts, I don't know where to start.

But the more disturbing part about it is the consumer mentality that is creeping into higher education (particularly here in the U.S.). Going to school is seen as a rite of passage and a necessity to obtaining a good job. In a private institution like the one I teach at, the vast majority of freshman are just that "fresh" out of high school with little or no life experience to speak of. In all the freshman classes I've taught, I've only once encountered a student who hadn't come straight from high school, and he was still only 20.

With this mentality, students come to see their education as a product that can be consumed and if they've paid for it, they expect to get out of it a passing grade, an 'A', a credit, whatever it is that they've decided they should get out of it. In other words, I'm supposed to deliver whatever it is they think they are entitled to after they've paid their tuition. It's a weird attitude to encounter and it cheapens the learning experience.

If any of you ever see me acting like a helicopter parent when my kid goes off to school next year, slap me upside the head... hard, ok?