My two previous posts, on the role of frontal lobes in adolescence, are background to this.

The impetus to those two posts was to provide background to an article,
New Study Gives Hovering College Parents Extra Credit, which appeared in the Washington Post on November 5.

Data from 24 colleges and universities gathered for the National Survey of Student Engagement show that students whose parents were very often in contact with them and frequently intervened on their behalf “reported higher levels of engagement and more frequent use of deep learning activities,” such as after-class discussions with professors, intensive writing exercises and independent research, than students with less-involved parents.
“Compared with their counterparts, children of helicopter parents were more satisfied with every aspect of their college experience, gained more in such areas as writing and critical thinking, and were more likely to talk with faculty and peers about substantive topics,” said survey director George D. Kuh, an Indiana University professor.

The study attracted attention because it goes against an assumption that when someone leaves for college, parents should butt out. What I especially like is that it isn’t generalized parent involvement the study seems to describe, but support for executive functioning:

The study says that 13 percent of first-year students and 8 percent of seniors reported having a parent or guardian who “frequently intervened on their behalf to help them solve problems they were having at the college.”

Bottom line? This is all about “downloading some frontal lobe.” I’ve talked to a couple college students since this came out, and they are clear about what’s helpful. It isn’t calling up to nag that helps. It’s good advice – the sort of executive-function support that a developing frontal lobe still needs.