More Advice for Parents and Guardians

Pamphlets

"What Can Parents Do To Best Support A Child’s College Experience" – This is a very helpful list of tips, adapted from College of the Overwhelmed: The Campus Mental Health Crisis and What To Do About It, by Richard Kadison and Theresa Foy DiGeronimo, 2004.

The Healthy Student – A Parent's Guide to Preparing Teens for the College Years  The Society for Adolescent Medicine has a wonderful resource for parents and guardians whose son or daughter is about to go off to college. "The Healthy Student – A Parent's Guide to Preparing Teens for the College Years" is available in English (pdf). It covers a range of issues, including the importance of talking with your student, independence and confidentiality, health insurance and health records, prescription medications and first aid supplies.

Speak to Your Children in College (pdf) is a helpful pamphlet from the New York State Office of Mental Health. "Entering college can be exciting, but it can also be stressful - many new students often feel sad or overwhelmed. That's why it's so important to also talk with your child about symptoms of depression."

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Books

Binge: Campus Life in an Age of Disconnection and Excess (What Your College Student Won't Tell You), by Barrett Seaman, John Wiley and Sons, 2005. Former Time Magazine reporter, and trustee at his alma mater, Hamilton College, offers an eye-opening perspective on current student affairs and campus life.

Don't Tell Me What to Do, Just Send Money: The Essential Guide to the College Years, by Helen E. Johnson and Christine Schelhas-Miller, St. Martin's, 2000. (Schelhas-Miller is on the faculty at Cornell.)  "One of the most difficult parts of being the parent of a college student is observing from afar as your child makes the often bumpy transition from dependence to independence. After years of being a responsible, caring, and 'in control' parent, this change can be frightening, rewarding, and nerve-racking-- sometimes all in the same week!"

Letting Go: A Parents' Guide to Understanding the College Years, by Karen Levin Coburn and Madge Lawrence Treeger, Perennial Books, 2003.

The Price of Privilege: How Parental Pressure and Material Advantage Are Creating a Generation of Disconnected and Unhappy Kids, by Madeline Levine, Ph.D., 2006. Read the July 25, 2006 book review from The San Francisco Chronicle.

Smashed: Story of a drunken girlhood, by Karen Zailckas, Viking Penguin, 2005.

When Your Kid Goes to College: A Parent's Survival Guide, by Carol Barkin, Avon Books, 1999.

You're On Your Own (But I'm Here if You Need Me): Mentoring Your Child During the College Years, by Majorie Savage, 2003.

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Newsletters

Gannett's own Family Matters, a newsletter for families of first year students. This newsletter is sent automatically four times during the first year to first year families. If you would like to be placed on the mailing list, contact us at 607 255-4782.