Don't Tell Me What to Do, Just Send Money

"College consultant Johnson and educator Schelhas-Miller (Human Development/Cornell Univ.) . . . provide easily applicable tips on how to achieve the fine balance between their child's continued dependence and burgeoning adulthood. Concise in their points, the authors tackle everything from declaring a major to frat parties to campus security. With insight on how to allow a child to develop their own identity and make their own decisions and whether or not to Facebook-friend college-aged children, the authors urge against the tendency toward 'helicopter parenting,' or hovering. This is particularly difficult in the age of the 'Electronic Umbilical Cord,' to which the authors pay particular heed in their discussion of making the most of technology without overstepping boundaries. Most beneficial for parents, whether their child is college-aged or not, is the chapter entitled 'When to Worry, When to Act,' in which parents are instructed on how to deal with problems and crises, and how to tell the difference. A valuable guide for every parent."—Kirkus Reviews