Alexandria Morgan

College; a new beginning….with your parents?

October 16, 2018

When teenagers graduate and get ready to set off to college, whether it be 10 miles away or 1000 miles it’s still a hard change. But what would you do if your Mom and Dad offered to come with you? Absurd I would say, but clearly not so much in China. This generation of Chinese freshmen is the generation of only children, a result from the ban on having more than one child in China until 2016. But where do these parents, or children draw the line of what is coddling and what isn’t? Honestly, I don’t believe there is one.

In recent years China has a “tents of love” program in some of the larger colleges in the area. These tents, or sometimes gym mats are set up for the parents of the incoming freshman. Their parents make the long journey with them to the university to make sure they get all settled in and are comfortable. These tents allow students to call upon their parents whenever they need to and give them a crutch heading off into adulthood. But does it keep them from learning how to support themselves?

“I feel safer when she’s here,” said Mr. Yang, 18, from a central Chinese town more than 700 miles away. “I’ve never been away from home before.” These young adults have learned to rely on their parents to keep them safe and protect them from failure.

Most of these parents took great pride in their children when they were in high school, and would often take part in something called tiger parenting. These parents were regularly giving their best efforts to make sure that their children got into a good university. Some parents even buying children’s toys to encourage their children at young ages for college. Many of these families their children are the first to get to go to college and it is just an exciting moment for them.

But we still need to ask ourselves the question is this too much? When teenagers go to college it is supposed to be the beginning of their newfound adulthood, but now their parents are tagging along. Is this coddling? Sleeping on the floor in a tent in the gym of their school just to make sure they’re alright. Seem a little outrageous if you ask me.

The debate in China about all of these new programs for “tents of love” popping up is still ongoing. The decision whether or not to keep the tents, or to get rid of them still stands, and they also need to figure out for themselves if they just created their own problem. Are they cosseting their 18-year-old “children”, or is it just memorable?

Alexandria Morgan College; a new beginning….with your parents? October 16, 2018

When teenagers graduate and get ready to set off to college, whether it be 10 miles away or 1000 miles it’s still a hard change. But what would you do if your Mom and Dad offered to come with you? Absurd I would say, but clearly not so much in China. This generation of Chinese freshmen is the generation of only children, a result from the ban on having more than one child in China until 2016. But where do these parents, or children draw the line of what is coddling and what isn’t? Honestly, I don’t believe there is one.     In recent years China has a “tents of love” program in some of the larger colleges in the area. These tents, or sometimes gym mats are set up for the parents of the incoming freshman. Their parents make the long journey with them to the university to make sure they get all settled in and are comfortable. These tents allow students to call upon their parents whenever they need to and give them a crutch heading off into adulthood. But does it keep them from learning how to support themselves?         “I feel safer when she’s here,” said Mr. Yang, 18, from a central Chinese town more than 700 miles away. “I’ve never been away from home before.” These young adults have learned to rely on their parents to keep them safe and protect them from failure. Most of these parents took great pride in their children when they were in high school, and would often take part in something called tiger parenting. These parents were regularly giving their best efforts to make sure that their children got into a good university. Some parents even buying children’s toys to encourage their children at young ages for college. Many of these families their children are the first to get to go to college and it is just an exciting moment for them. But we still need to ask ourselves the question is this too much? When teenagers go to college it is supposed to be the beginning of their newfound adulthood, but now their parents are tagging along. Is this coddling? Sleeping on the floor in a tent in the gym of their school just to make sure they’re alright. Seem a little outrageous if you ask me. The debate in China about all of these new programs for “tents of love” popping up is still ongoing. The decision whether or not to keep the tents, or to get rid of them still stands, and they also need to figure out for themselves if they just created their own problem. Are they cosseting their 18-year-old “children”, or is it just memorable?