<p>“Which is why so many kids don’t even understand their positions on the issues they march about beyond two the first sentences.”</p>
<p>I disagree. I think these kids do understand their positions. I might disagree with them, or I might think that based on my life experience, there is a better way to go about obtaining “X” than “Y,” but these kids aren’t dumb.</p>
<p>Anyway, this is all so silly - I have one kid who lives and breathes politics and one kid who couldn’t care less. They each do their own thing. No one is “pressured” to do anything they don’t want to.</p>
<p>I think the OP’s real fear is … what if the kid finds merit in a viewpoint that isn’t the parent’s?<br>
I have one kid who is a Democrat and one kid who is a Republican. Oh well! C’est la vie! They’re entitled to their opinions. </p>
<p>Many (many) years ago, one of the first classes I had to take at MIT was about how engineering problems turned into political problems (brakes on aircraft). For a STEM major, science without consideration of impact should not be the norm. As another poster said, that’s how problems get solved. And that’s what we do. I don’t think that normally influences who you vote for or what protests you attend but it may. It has often been my wish that scientists knew more about politics and politicians knew more about science.</p>
<p>Truth is that once they leave us, we can’t tell them what to think. Our days of influence wane and it was probably an illusion that we still have influence after a certain age. Like maybe 15 or 14 or 13. . . I would just like to say to the OP is that all we can do is trust our DSs and DDs that they have a good head on their shoulders and that we have laid a good foundation. The studies/articles cited above seem to support that.</p>
<p>As a poster above said: I wish I’d brought popcorn.</p>
<p>If you’re worried about your kid joining an armed rebellion maybe Oberlin is just the place for her. Better yet, Earlham or one of the other Quaker schools. </p>
<p>It sounds to me that the OP is most concerned that the student will become active in causes that will interfere with studies, will be recruited by professors and other students to do so, and will find causes that do not necessarily agree with parents.</p>
<p>You know…this all sounds like unfounded fear to me. The OP likely has taught the kiddo some good values. It is up to the kiddo to decide whether or not they agree.</p>
<p>And FYI, back in the day, I also participated in protests. I was an honors grad, and it never interfered with my studies. I’m quite sure my parents NEVER knew when I was participating in some march or protest. I certainly didn’t tell them! </p>
<p>I am often surprised by the number of threads on CC that involve people arguing about whether the answer is 0 or 1, when it seems far more appropriate to assume that it is some fraction between the two (shades of gray and all that). OP appears to understand that people evolve in response to the pressures of whatever environment they find themselves in, and, from the OP’s experience, college environments can differ significantly (I agree), with some environments providing some pressures that are greater than what the OP believes would be healthy or optimal for a young person’s development. The OP, as a parent who feels a duty and responsibility to maximize the welfare of the child and thus to provide the best landing place possible, does not to me appear to be doing anything inappropriate. I would concur with the OP that college environments are rife with self-serving predatory types (not just sexual), mostly fellow students but also professors, who see incoming freshman as easy prey to be manipulated for their own purposes.</p>
<p>College students need to be involved in college politics to some degree. Students don’t have to get involved in it up to their elbows but should at least keep open mind and keep eyes and ears open to what is going on politically in their community…if you don’t, others will start eating your lunch…</p>
<p>Can anyone on this thread give an example of someone they know whose college activism substantially interfered with their studies or subsequent career? I know several women who were assaulted in college but no one who whose education, career, health, happiness, or general well being was harmed by political activity in college. So far all we have fueling this fear is the OP’s armed rebel. </p>
<p>The kids I know who were politically active and/or attended rallies in high school didn’t suffer any academic harm; every single one of them is attending or headed to some of the selective colleges well known on this site.</p>
<p>I agree, Mathyone. I went to college graduating in 1973. There was PLENTY of political activism at that time…and I was in Ohio (where Kent State is). Still, we felt it important to support things that we felt needed support. My college friends and I were all top students in addition to any other pursuits. </p>
<p>^ It happened to a friend of mine, a young woman in engineering who got a bit too involved in the political issues related to US interference in Central America in the late 70’s, early 80’s. She was a smart and wonderful young woman, who had a good heart as well as a good mind, but she neglected her studies and dropped out. She entered another school about 15 years later and finished an engineering degree, but she never developed much of a career, certainly not what she would have had. And I say this as someone who completely agreed with her politics, but not with her level of commitment.</p>
<p>Dropping out due to overinvolvement in extracurriculars has to be a tiny concern compared to dropping out because of partying/drinking too much.</p>
<p>@austinareadad sure, but kids drop out for any number of reasons. One anecdote does not a trend make. Kids can get involved in drugs, partying, or fall in love with a circus performer. There are no guarantees in life. I just don’t think political activism is up there on the what-I-should-worry-about list. </p>
<p>Well, more like she saw her friend the communist. But that didn’t make her a communist, since she probably just wanted to soak up the sun with her (SPF) 45 on, so that she can rock on…</p>
<p>I hope the OP comes back and tells us exactly what she fears.</p>
<p>–</p>
<p>I did several times - but it got buried somewhere between being called an idiot and crazy . :D</p>
<p>Let me restate:
Although there are wonderful opportunities in college, there are also dangers. Excessive partying leading to drugs/drinking as well as assault obviously. Muggings & robberies (if you are in an urban campus). Fraternity hazings if you join a frat/sor. In my experience, another danger for wide-eyed, inexperienced freshman who look up to authority figures like professors and upperclassmen/grad students is for them to uncritically conflate political opinions with facts. This is specially a danger when the whole campus leans a certain way so that there are few or no opposing viewpoints. Unless the student already holds their own opinion on the issue, they will most likely go with the group (there are many psyche experiments that show this is true of humans).
This can lead to students rallying/demonstrating/voting for the common view. Since students are still at the age when emotion, specially when in large groups, easily overcomes reason, this can lead to ill-judged actions, specially if the leadership is inclined towards emotionalism over rationalism.
Even apart from large groups, peer pressure or institutional culture may lead students to change majors that they are suited for because it is a field that is considered low-value, or to dismiss opportunities in the real world out of excessive idealism.
Fwiw, I do value debate & the free exchange of ideas, and would be happy to see the kid in a college that also values that.</p>
<p>Voila, you heard it again. Time to drop the pitchforks. </p>
<p>The collective wisdom is that having to deal with oppressive political activism should not be a great concern. Yet, aren’t parents used to worry about their kids throughout K12 … when they have the choice? The OP should be applauded for analyzing the possibilities of the next steps. After all, isn’t fit one of tenets of this community. Or do we also expect that such elusive fit better corresponds to the vast majority? </p>
<p>While most of us here will have to agree that this should not be a major hindrance, the OP thinks it might be an issue. As all of us have done, if she thinks it is best, she could cross a number of schools that have made the news. For instance, googling OWS and campus will be a good start. Next go down a list of topics that appear to be overly political or known as hippie schools. That should take care of the most vocal ones, but still leave almost all schools in the running. And open to what someone likes to call a quixotic quest without sarcasm. </p>
<p>In the end, one can only pick one school in May or January, and there are no reasons one should be at a school that does not corresponds to an objective or a lifestyle. Again, that elusive best fit!</p>
<p>As I wrote before, there is probably not a master list you can work from. If there were, I’m sure that after 117 replies, a link to one would have been posted.</p>
<p>OP, I suggest you not worry about all this until you and your kid have developed a list of 20 or so schools you are interested in. Then post that list and ask specifically about those schools. Do it early enough in the process that you’re not yet emotionally invested in any single school. Use the search function here to find posts that already exist. You can also Google individual schools with keywords like “political,” “liberal,” and so on to see if information is available on other sites.</p>