Category Archives: Home & Family

Homemaking, parenting and special needs

Beware of College: Now What?

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So colleges aren’t what they used to be. Does this mean you shouldn’t send your teen to college?

Not at all. What it does mean is that you and your teen must be extremely diligent in the choice of a college, once you determine that he or she is “college material.”

How to define “college material”:

Motivated to attend college, to study hard and to succeed.

Strong enough to handle peer pressure of all kinds.

Interested in a career that requires a college degree and will allow the degree-holder to make enough money to cover the cost of said college experience and then some.

Willing to help pay for college (important for what it says about your child as much as how it will help financially).

If you still think your teen is “college material,” it’s time for due diligence. Check out prospective colleges thoroughly. This includes Christian colleges, some of which are Christian in name only. If you’re going to leave your teen somewhere for four (or more) years, you want it to be a good, safe place, not just a well-known place, right?

Finally, in light of what we’ve considered in these college posts, consider online learning and/or community college for at least part of your child’s college experience. Starting out by studying at home can give your child time to mature further, in order to face the trials and temptations of modern college life with more maturity than he or she had at 18.

One good book for those who are attracted to the benefits of distance learning for college is Accelerated Distance Learning.

 

Next: College: The Bottom Line

Beware of College, Post #3

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Many college administrators believe that stopping alcohol and drug abuse is the responsibility of the student, not the college.

A recent study finds that not only is alcohol and drug abuse increasing on college campuses, but a majority of college administrators believe that controlling such abuses is the responsibility of the students, not the college.

That may sound good, especially in light of the idea of personal responsibility, but the truth is that parents send their teens off to college to gain maturity as well as learning. Immaturity and personal responsibility are often mutually exclusive. Ultimately, parents expect that their offspring will be safe at college, and that the college or university to which they’re paying thousands of dollars each year will make sure of that.

How do you find a college where law enforcement and the protection of students are priorities? When you’re visiting colleges with your teen, ask questions about campus safety, as recommended by writer Paul Lloyd Hemphill. The type of response you get should speak volumes.

Next: So colleges aren’t what they used to be. Does this mean you shouldn’t send your teen to college?

Beware of College, Post #2

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Colleges and universities are more than willing to take your money in order to prepare your child for a career in which he probably won’t be able to find a job.

This article made me so sad because I was once a journalism student. While I don’t believe I was as idealistic as some of the students quoted, I enjoyed every bit of my journalism education, and looked forward to a career in journalism. A lousy economy at the time of my graduation ruined that dream for me back then.

Today, these kids are graduating into a lousy economy and a deteriorating journalism scene (note some of the comments after the article from recent journalism grads who can’t find work). The rise of the Internet and the clear bias of American media have resulted in newspapers dropping like flies. Yes, there are far more writing opportunities online than in print, but they pay less, too. It’s much harder to make a living as a journalist now than it was nearly 30 years ago when I graduated during the Carter years.

Yet the professors quoted in the article let the students believe that “it’s all going to be ok” when they surely know better. Gotta keep those paychecks coming in, I guess. (Same reason so many colleges and universities inflate grades these days, but I digress…..)

The moral of this story? Just because a college offers a specific major does not mean your child will be able to find work after obtaining that degree. Help your child make a wise career choice. Check out specific careers and their predicted futures at www.bls.gov. Most of all, don’t believe the hype of colleges that need to keep a certain number of warm bodies coming through their departments in order to maintain their own employment.

Next up: Many college administrators believe that stopping alcohol and drug abuse is the responsibility of the student, not the college.

Beware of College, Post #1

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College and university staff sometimes lies to parents in order to push a certain social agenda.

The mother of a Stanford University student is dismayed to learn that her child is living in a “gender neutral” dorm, which means co-ed within the room (i.e. sleeping in the same room as members of the opposite sex).  

To make matters worse, university administration not only neglected to inform parents of this possibility in the residential hall info given to parents, but later lied and said it was only going on in four dorms when it was really going on in other dorms, including the dorm this woman’s daughter lives in.

This mom has met with the university’s president but has not found a resolution to this problem. Learn what she did find out (to her dismay) by reading her story.

How could she have avoided this problem? She did thoroughly investigate the university’s residential policies ahead of time, but could not have known that they were misrepresented. Perhaps the only way to really avoid this type of problem would be to avoid secular colleges and find a committed Christian university instead.

Next up,

Colleges and universities are more than willing to take your money in order to prepare your child for a career in which he probably won’t be able to find a job.

Should You Stock Up?

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Sick Child is Offered Some Sustenance from a Girl Acting as Nurse
Sick Child is Offered Some Sustenance from a Girl Acting as Nurse

All the furor over the swine flu (which may or not be justified, we’ll have to see how it plays out) is resulting in news reports suggesting that people should stock up on food, water, medicine, etc. in case a pandemic wipes out our already struggling economy.

Of course, if everyone followed this advice, it would become a self-fulfilling prophecy, because most grocery stores keep very little in reserve, instead relying on a steady stream of deliveries to keep their shelves stocked. It only takes a little fear-mongering to quickly clear those shelves.

Nevertheless, it’s always wise to keep a small stash of necessities in your house. (Learn more about stashes here.) I learned this the hard way when my husband and I were struck by a rough flu bug at the same time. Back then we had two toddlers; keeping them fed and their diapers changed was all I could do because I had a fever and was so dizzy. But my poor husband was even sicker than I was. So when we discovered we were completely out of acetaminophen and pop, guess who got to drive to the store to buy more? I was the logical choice, being the less dizzy of the two people in the house with driver’s licenses.

That was over 20 years ago, but I remember well driving down the highway and then trying to aim at the parking lot of the store and thinking, “I have no business driving in this condition.” It was all I could do to stumble into the store, buy what I needed (imagine the clerk’s joy over waiting on someone as sick and probably contagious as I was) and make it back home.

That experience made me decide I would never let my family be caught sick without supplies again. Since then, we always have acetaminophen, ibuprofen and aspirin in the house. I keep spare containers of drink mix just in case. Crackers, applesauce and rice are also good things to keep in the pantry for recovering patients.

So, should you stock up in case the swine flu makes it to your neck of the woods? That’s up to you, but I highly recommend that you make sure you at least have the basics in good supply at your house, because even if the swine flu turns out to be just another bug, you know how families share germs. Sooner or later, you’ll be glad you don’t have to run out for supplies when you’re feeling awful.