thanksgiving

Parents and College Students Can Find Ways to Peacefully Coexist During Thanksgiving and the Holidays!

Call it a clash of cultures. Thousands of college students will soon travel home for Thanksgiving, in their minds, returning as independent adults, but still children in the eyes of their parents, says Scott Hall, a family studies professor at Ball State.

“When college students return home for their first Thanksgiving after having been away at school, they might feel like they are caught between two worlds: echoes of childhood dependency, and nearby adult-like independence,” Hall says. “It is easy to feel the tugs of long-established patterns of home life once stepping back into the family system only recently left behind. Such patterns (to the college students) suddenly feel threatening to the ‘new me’ that has been emerging at school.”

He says parents might similarly feel stuck between two worlds: the long-established guardian role versus the recently evolving, remote support staff.

It is tempting to expect what they have always expected or demanded of their child when he or she is back at home. But this may not sit well with the emerging adult who perceives a lessening ‘need’ for parents, Hall says.

“The … Read More... “Thanksgiving: What Happens When College Students Return Home For The Holidays?”