Surveillance Parents Face the Ultimate Firewall: Freshman Year

As this year’s freshmen acclimate to college life, their parents confront a big adjustment. After years of peering into teachers’ gradebooks for real-time updates and stalking their children on Life360, they now find themselves relegated to the sidelines. That doesn’t mean their offspring stop asking for help. What’s a parent to do when their child complains about a humid dorm room or loud roommate? Is continued smartphone surveillance advisable, and if so, how should they handle knowing Junior isn’t waking up for class? So many questions! A burgeoning support network for parents of college kids, and a proliferating number of special parent-liaison offices at colleges, are swooping in to help.