ext_28410 ([identity profile] shalmestere.livejournal.com) wrote in [personal profile] jducoeur 2005-08-03 12:46 pm (UTC)

College kids haven't really interacted with The Nanny State that much; they're still formed by the ultimate Nanny State: their parents.

Many of whom, if the news media are to be believed, continue to micro-manage (or at least try to) the offspring's lives during college, as well (the NYT has run several articles about this phenomenon in recent years; check their archives for further info). My spouse-the-prof has had parents show up at their child's course advising appointments, choose the child's classes, and not let the child get in a word edgewise.

Dr. Science's university also held a faculty workshop about College Kids Today (and how they differ from college kids of a generation ago), which pointed out (among other things) that these "young adults" have grown up (as said above) micro-managed and hyper-protected by their parents. If they've spent their lives-to-date chauffeured to and from extracurriculars and play-dates in controlled environments, and have never played unsupervised in the back yard or gone exploring after school because Something Bad Might Happen, then it shouldn't come as a surprise that they would be reluctant to leave campus (or let their parents choose their classes, or agree to phone home twice daily, or...).

In the Midrealm in the Eighties, the biggest, most vital, and best-traveled groups were the ones based on university campuses. (I haven't played in the Midrealm for ten years, so I don't know whether that's still the case.)


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