Why Helicopter Parents are Here to Stay

High school students take notice: Don’t expect Mom and Dad to leave immediately after they move you in to school.

On Monday, the New York Times ran an article highlighting the various ways colleges handle helicopter parents who are helping their children move in to their new dorms. More specifically, college deans and orientation leaders are finding that they must be more explicit when telling parents that their presence is not required for the remainder of orientation.

This raises an interesting question: why might parents feel incentivized to stick around after schlepping and then arranging all of their child’s gear from the likes of Ikea, Bed Bath and Beyond, et ceteta? A blog post that same day, from the New York Times Economix blog team provided an intriguing, yet plausible answer.

The blog cites a recently published report from Sallie Mae and Gallup, noting that “on average parents pay, from their income and savings, for 37 percent of the total cost of attending college.”

Couple that with the associated emotional concerns of moving a child into school, and it becomes clear why parents feel compelled to return after day one of orientation. Parents, like any smart investor, want to ensure that they are not wasting funds on their child’s education.

So high school students, while your folks might want to stick around because they cannot bare the thought of not seeing you the next day, understand that they are making sure that you, as the student, are making the best use of their hard earned dollars.