<p>I agree with post 44. (Let’s demonize stay-at-home Moms, shall we?)</p>
<p>I also agree with post 50. Anyone who (like myself) has been interviewed by “journalists” know how inaccurate, melodramatic, and selective they can be about facts, to the point where they actually often publish factual errors, abundantly, in one article. I would have to know more intimate details about the story to verify how much of the article is sensationalism and how much is fact.</p>
<p>As to the theory that somehow the early years are all that’s needed to set a child on a right path, and he/she takes it from there, what a joke. Many teens need far more supervision than even toddlers need, if that’s possible. Others need and/or strongly benefit from mere adult presence. (Wait, what a concept: family life.) </p>
<p>Sorry to be sarcastic, but I see so much of the opposite in my work. I see dual professional couples with 1-2 abandoned children (anywhere from age 5 through age 16), while each parent pursues a 60-75 hr/week job, both parents stressed to the max, extremely little communication (including about school) occurring in the household, and well-educated parents acting surprised when sophomore is failing because he’s not turning in his homework and doesn’t know how to begin to study for tests. Zero oversight when the student is 14 doesn’t work unless that student has shown by previous behavior that he truly is, can be independent and has the skills and knowledge base for that. It’s not age; it’s performance. If you think that the typical teen these days is not often overwhelmed by media distractions which directly affect homework habits and other study output, I have a couple of local bridges to sell you. Some of my parents at work (the more responsible ones) have actually rearranged their schedules just so that they can be home between 3 and 6, because they suspect or know that Junior is surfing, i-podding, facebooking, I-M’ing, watching TV, on the cell phone, and doing anything but homework, and that media for Junior is Priority One.</p>
<p>That is a separate issue, I understand, from parental involvement in college admissions, but I see the general subject of supervision vs. lack of supervision being brought up as if the latter is a virtue which in itself promotes or results in independence, and shows superior parenting. Sometimes just the opposite happens. My most independent students are the ones who are most secure because appropriate parental oversight has happened all through the pre-college years.</p>
<p>As to college admissions, I actually think that for some aspects of college admissions (particularly the research), “It Takes a Village” (student-parents-school counselors-information highway). That is separate from the application efforts, essays, SAT prep, grades, etc., which are the student’s responsibility.</p>