Purdue President’s Op-Ed

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why oh why would the Post run such a sexist, mean, pointless "op-ed." He better do one for Father's Day. For instance, when high schools create activities and require parents to bring food, decorations, etc. and of the 10 families on the team, 7 women sign up, make food, buy ballons, etc. and not a single man, why isn't this a problem? Maybe if fathers did a tenth of the parenting that mothers do, we wouldn't all be batshit crazy by the time they get to college. If you are a woman and a mother, this horrid piece of "writing" should do nothing but infuriate you.

Actually the opposite. I am a mom and I have a senior soon to head to college and I am proud of myself for not being one of these kind of mothers (and proud of my husband for not being one of those kind of fathers). We make are share of mistakes raising our kids but we do not suffocate them.

PP you sound so angry and I feel badly as many years ago when I battled depression I knew that feeling. It is tough to live life so angry.

The problem is that you are made to think that "these mothers" are common when they are not, and believe that this man's account is somehow the truth. To me, you sound smug and like you derive a sense of superiority by hearing tales of parents who are worse than you and thus are proud not to be like "one of these mothers." I'm surprised your battles with mental health haven't left you with more sense and empathy not to fall for stereotyped accounts of people.

[Anonymous]

Well, I guess that’s Purdue off the list. I have no interest in sending money to an institution headed by a raging misogynist and neither does DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s an important read for many on DCUM — don’t be like the moms he references. Let your college kids figure stuff out on their own!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/05/06/mothers-day-helicopter-parenting/

OP, are you a woman? You shoud be ashamed of yourself if you are. We have got to take the country and our lives back from these sexist, mysoginist pigs. What a hateful, horrible

man. If my kid were at Purdue (he's not, he's at a top 10 university, t thankfully), I would not pay another dime of tuition until this man releases a apology. Shameful.

OP here. Yes, I am a woman. Do you think the actual requests and commands that he mentions are appropriate? I hear this type of thing over and over from people who work in colleges and even at workplaces. The infantalizing of our adult children has to stop.

But not a single mention of men. It's mean-spirited at best but more accurately a reflection of the diretion this country is headed. We are no longer moving forward as women. I feel it in my life everyday. Being belittled and looked down on by men. So some moms can't let go. Of course I believe that. But so the hell what? Why do I care? I don't do that. What I do see everyday is my husband leaving every single aspect of parenting to me. Treating me as if I'm the hire help, even as I hold down a full-time, WOH job, and he doesn't. This guy is a sexist and is joining the whilte men chorus in taking women back down. Wake up.

Did you read the op-ed? He does mention men and fathers and says they do not submit anywhere near the number of questions as mothers.

And guess what, they also never attended parent-teacher conferences, made doctor's appointments, filled out schol and camp forms, picked up prescriptions. hired babysitters, cooked, cleaned, helped with homework. There is absolutely no reason for a high profile op-ed trashing mothers over one aspect he sees. No reason. Men do not contribution to the lives of their chldren and instead treat women like the hired help. I don't if this guy is married or a parent, but if so, I feel deeply sorry for his wife.

My husband honestly does more for our kids than I do. Always has even when they were babies.
I know you can not know what goes on behind closed doors but in my community and social circles the dads are extremely involved in all aspects of their child's life. A friend just yesterday was venting because her husband insisted on taking their daughter to the dentist and she had already taken off work.

Where I live and raise my children the men are hands on dads

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why oh why would the Post run such a sexist, mean, pointless "op-ed." He better do one for Father's Day. For instance, when high schools create activities and require parents to bring food, decorations, etc. and of the 10 families on the team, 7 women sign up, make food, buy ballons, etc. and not a single man, why isn't this a problem? Maybe if fathers did a tenth of the parenting that mothers do, we wouldn't all be batshit crazy by the time they get to college. If you are a woman and a mother, this horrid piece of "writing" should do nothing but infuriate you.

Actually the opposite. I am a mom and I have a senior soon to head to college and I am proud of myself for not being one of these kind of mothers (and proud of my husband for not being one of those kind of fathers). We make are share of mistakes raising our kids but we do not suffocate them.

PP you sound so angry and I feel badly as many years ago when I battled depression I knew that feeling. It is tough to live life so angry.

The problem is that you are made to think that "these mothers" are common when they are not, and believe that this man's account is somehow the truth. To me, you sound smug and like you derive a sense of superiority by hearing tales of parents who are worse than you and thus are proud not to be like "one of these mothers." I'm surprised your battles with mental health haven't left you with more sense and empathy not to fall for stereotyped accounts of people.

NP. Agree. However, the desperate-sounding “I’m not like those mothers” self-validation sounds like someone still struggling with depression.

[Anonymous]

Seems like a lot of you are taking this op-Ed personally! He’s not wrong, although I do take issue with the timing and singling out moms - because there have to be a few examples of dads doing this too even if it’s not as frequent. It could’ve been more balanced.

The point is that we are doing our kids a huge disservice by not stepping back and encouraging independence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s an important read for many on DCUM — don’t be like the moms he references. Let your college kids figure stuff out on their own!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/05/06/mothers-day-helicopter-parenting/

OP, are you a woman? You shoud be ashamed of yourself if you are. We have got to take the country and our lives back from these sexist, mysoginist pigs. What a hateful, horrible

man. If my kid were at Purdue (he's not, he's at a top 10 university, t thankfully), I would not pay another dime of tuition until this man releases a apology. Shameful.

OP here. Yes, I am a woman. Do you think the actual requests and commands that he mentions are appropriate? I hear this type of thing over and over from people who work in colleges and even at workplaces. The infantalizing of our adult children has to stop.

But not a single mention of men. It's mean-spirited at best but more accurately a reflection of the diretion this country is headed. We are no longer moving forward as women. I feel it in my life everyday. Being belittled and looked down on by men. So some moms can't let go. Of course I believe that. But so the hell what? Why do I care? I don't do that. What I do see everyday is my husband leaving every single aspect of parenting to me. Treating me as if I'm the hire help, even as I hold down a full-time, WOH job, and he doesn't. This guy is a sexist and is joining the whilte men chorus in taking women back down. Wake up.

You obviously didn't read the op-ed. While I am no fan of the former Indiana governor, I have been a professor for 20 years, and I empathize with the sentiment expressed in the op-ed. 90% of the parental involvement, nay, intrusion, with regard to college student experience comes from mothers. I'm sure this is due to a number of sociological and cultural factors, but yes, moms need to back off.

I'm a professor too--have taught at 3 very different kinds of institutions over 2 decades. Be honest what percentage of parental involvement have you experienced directly? Total up your students. Give a percentage of how many you have taught that you have had ANY contact with their parents outside of graduation, let alone egregious involvement. Your 90% figure is meaningless a commentary on moms, if it's anywhere like mine, less than 1% of my students.

Right on professor! That first "professor" clearly isn't one at my child's prestigious university, because they lack any ability for critical thinking. Obviously another woman-hating man.

Critical thinking goes both ways. I'd be wary of arguing with "only a few." If a college had only a handful of transgender students, and the president wrote an op-ed about policies enacted to protect those students, would you also say that only 1% is meaningless?

Your point makes no sense. The issue is the making a commentary about "moms" and then describing the behavior of a few "moms" he finds problematic when the reality is that anyone who works in higher ed knows this represents a tiny percentage of students' mothers. This isn't like protecting the interests of a small minority like transgender students.

I have a similar less than 1% of students who complain about their grades, give excuses I find laughable, make unreasonable demands like me recounting all we covered in a class that they missed. Does that mean I should write commentaries on how my students as a whole need to be less annoying and entitled? Should I comment that it tends to be the white men who do this more and therefore extend that to my critique of white male students writ large? No, it means like all social situations there are going to be a few people whose behavior I find problematic and I complain about their individual behaviors and not extend it to the group to which I think they belong.

Um, professors, I don’t think any of you understood the first professor’s post. They said 90% of parental involvement comes from mothers. Not that 90% of their students’ mothers get involved. It could be 90% of your 1% for that professor.

That was exactly my point. The prior professor agreed with the op-ed that "moms need to back off" because 90% of their experience of parental involvement was moms. But never clarified what the overall percentage of parental involvement was. If it's less than 1% of parents involved at all, it is bad reasoning to think that they have anything meaningful to comment on "moms" as a broad category.

I'm the first professor. There are a lot of things that involve just a tiny, tiny percentage of students, but take up a disproportionate amount of mental energy--like moms emailing professors about their child's low grade. The vast majority of my students' parents are hands off, but I have had a handful of nightmare scenarios with parents, in my case 100% moms, who were massive drains on my time and energy. On a couple of occasions, their complaints would escalate up to chairs, then deans, and on up. If you're an assistant professor or an adjunct, these sorts of complaints cause a tremendous amount stress because you are afraid of losing your job over it.
As I said, I'm not a fan of the Purdue president, but I don't know of a single long-time professor who hasn't had an experience with a disgruntled parent.
Yes, the president does sound old and out-of-touch with his mother's day rhetoric, but the point of helicopter moms is not completely off base.

Sure, out of my decades as a professor I've had a couple encounters with disgruntled parents (as well as students, administrators, colleagues) who absorb far more energy than they should. This is the case in any workplace--the disgruntled few absorb far more energy than the vast majority. But as a tiny percentage, they represent themselves not some larger category--I can't make judgments on moms, dads, race, gender etc. based on what a few people do. Surely you grasp this if you are a professor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s an important read for many on DCUM — don’t be like the moms he references. Let your college kids figure stuff out on their own!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/05/06/mothers-day-helicopter-parenting/

OP, are you a woman? You shoud be ashamed of yourself if you are. We have got to take the country and our lives back from these sexist, mysoginist pigs. What a hateful, horrible

man. If my kid were at Purdue (he's not, he's at a top 10 university, t thankfully), I would not pay another dime of tuition until this man releases a apology. Shameful.

OP here. Yes, I am a woman. Do you think the actual requests and commands that he mentions are appropriate? I hear this type of thing over and over from people who work in colleges and even at workplaces. The infantalizing of our adult children has to stop.

But not a single mention of men. It's mean-spirited at best but more accurately a reflection of the diretion this country is headed. We are no longer moving forward as women. I feel it in my life everyday. Being belittled and looked down on by men. So some moms can't let go. Of course I believe that. But so the hell what? Why do I care? I don't do that. What I do see everyday is my husband leaving every single aspect of parenting to me. Treating me as if I'm the hire help, even as I hold down a full-time, WOH job, and he doesn't. This guy is a sexist and is joining the whilte men chorus in taking women back down. Wake up.

Did you read the op-ed? He does mention men and fathers and says they do not submit anywhere near the number of questions as mothers.

Well, duh, they have their wives doing it for them. Did they stop their wives from doing it? Did they step in and say, "son, your mother shouldn't be doing this for you, time to adult?" No. No, they didn't; but who complains about them for their failure to raise independent competent kids who can find their own roommate? Much easier to blame the mom.

So you are okay with the moms submitting these concerns to a college?

I think for every mom who oversteps, there are 99 making sure the tuition bill is paid on time. He paints the minority as typical, while taking the financial and logistical support of the majority for granted.

+1
I work in higher ed. People love to talk trash about helicopter moms but the reality is that more than 99% don't do this. They just make sure their kids are there, the tuition is paid, their health insurance is figured out etc. I hear though lots of repeating about the handful of 'crazy moms' we have out of our tens of thousands of students.

Thanks for confirming this. That's what makes his "Happy Mother's Day" roast so infuriating. He takes up "tribute to mom" space by repeating his most egregious & entertaining & embellished cocktail party stories over that past 30 years and paints mothers with the stroke of cray cray. What's more, except for the most egregious examples (that we'd all agree cross the line), many of these start as legitimate concerns -- where parents absolutely have every right and should step in to ask about (depression, sickness, mold, safe living conditions, etc). Maybe those moms took it too far or maybe he's just full of shit.

yes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I absolutely will discourage DD from applying there because of this op-ed.
I'm convinced if confronted with a complaint of inappropriate sexual activity (assault, rape, etc) made by a female student, "lay back and enjoy" or "make lemonade from lemons" would be in his sweep-this-under-the-rug rationale.

Please do! My junior has the school on his list as it is tops for engineering and with every student not applying his future ed app looks stronger

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Seems like a lot of you are taking this op-Ed personally! He’s not wrong, although I do take issue with the timing and singling out moms - because there have to be a few examples of dads doing this too even if it’s not as frequent. It could’ve been more balanced.

The point is that we are doing our kids a huge disservice by not stepping back and encouraging independence.

He did give examples of fathers behaving badly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I absolutely will discourage DD from applying there because of this op-ed.
I'm convinced if confronted with a complaint of inappropriate sexual activity (assault, rape, etc) made by a female student, "lay back and enjoy" or "make lemonade from lemons" would be in his sweep-this-under-the-rug rationale.

Please do! My junior has the school on his list as it is tops for engineering and with every student not applying his future ed app looks stronger

Birds of a feather. I’m sure your DS will fit right it. Congrats!

[Anonymous]

Not impressed with him at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s an important read for many on DCUM — don’t be like the moms he references. Let your college kids figure stuff out on their own!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/05/06/mothers-day-helicopter-parenting/

OP, are you a woman? You shoud be ashamed of yourself if you are. We have got to take the country and our lives back from these sexist, mysoginist pigs. What a hateful, horrible

man. If my kid were at Purdue (he's not, he's at a top 10 university, t thankfully), I would not pay another dime of tuition until this man releases a apology. Shameful.

OP here. Yes, I am a woman. Do you think the actual requests and commands that he mentions are appropriate? I hear this type of thing over and over from people who work in colleges and even at workplaces. The infantalizing of our adult children has to stop.

But not a single mention of men. It's mean-spirited at best but more accurately a reflection of the diretion this country is headed. We are no longer moving forward as women. I feel it in my life everyday. Being belittled and looked down on by men. So some moms can't let go. Of course I believe that. But so the hell what? Why do I care? I don't do that. What I do see everyday is my husband leaving every single aspect of parenting to me. Treating me as if I'm the hire help, even as I hold down a full-time, WOH job, and he doesn't. This guy is a sexist and is joining the whilte men chorus in taking women back down. Wake up.

You obviously didn't read the op-ed. While I am no fan of the former Indiana governor, I have been a professor for 20 years, and I empathize with the sentiment expressed in the op-ed. 90% of the parental involvement, nay, intrusion, with regard to college student experience comes from mothers. I'm sure this is due to a number of sociological and cultural factors, but yes, moms need to back off.

I'm a professor too--have taught at 3 very different kinds of institutions over 2 decades. Be honest what percentage of parental involvement have you experienced directly? Total up your students. Give a percentage of how many you have taught that you have had ANY contact with their parents outside of graduation, let alone egregious involvement. Your 90% figure is meaningless a commentary on moms, if it's anywhere like mine, less than 1% of my students.

Right on professor! That first "professor" clearly isn't one at my child's prestigious university, because they lack any ability for critical thinking. Obviously another woman-hating man.

Critical thinking goes both ways. I'd be wary of arguing with "only a few." If a college had only a handful of transgender students, and the president wrote an op-ed about policies enacted to protect those students, would you also say that only 1% is meaningless?

Your point makes no sense. The issue is the making a commentary about "moms" and then describing the behavior of a few "moms" he finds problematic when the reality is that anyone who works in higher ed knows this represents a tiny percentage of students' mothers. This isn't like protecting the interests of a small minority like transgender students.

I have a similar less than 1% of students who complain about their grades, give excuses I find laughable, make unreasonable demands like me recounting all we covered in a class that they missed. Does that mean I should write commentaries on how my students as a whole need to be less annoying and entitled? Should I comment that it tends to be the white men who do this more and therefore extend that to my critique of white male students writ large? No, it means like all social situations there are going to be a few people whose behavior I find problematic and I complain about their individual behaviors and not extend it to the group to which I think they belong.

Um, professors, I don’t think any of you understood the first professor’s post. They said 90% of parental involvement comes from mothers. Not that 90% of their students’ mothers get involved. It could be 90% of your 1% for that professor.

That was exactly my point. The prior professor agreed with the op-ed that "moms need to back off" because 90% of their experience of parental involvement was moms. But never clarified what the overall percentage of parental involvement was. If it's less than 1% of parents involved at all, it is bad reasoning to think that they have anything meaningful to comment on "moms" as a broad category.

I'm the first professor. There are a lot of things that involve just a tiny, tiny percentage of students, but take up a disproportionate amount of mental energy--like moms emailing professors about their child's low grade. The vast majority of my students' parents are hands off, but I have had a handful of nightmare scenarios with parents, in my case 100% moms, who were massive drains on my time and energy. On a couple of occasions, their complaints would escalate up to chairs, then deans, and on up. If you're an assistant professor or an adjunct, these sorts of complaints cause a tremendous amount stress because you are afraid of losing your job over it.
As I said, I'm not a fan of the Purdue president, but I don't know of a single long-time professor who hasn't had an experience with a disgruntled parent.
Yes, the president does sound old and out-of-touch with his mother's day rhetoric, but the point of helicopter moms is not completely off base.

Sure, out of my decades as a professor I've had a couple encounters with disgruntled parents (as well as students, administrators, colleagues) who absorb far more energy than they should. This is the case in any workplace--the disgruntled few absorb far more energy than the vast majority. But as a tiny percentage, they represent themselves not some larger category--I can't make judgments on moms, dads, race, gender etc. based on what a few people do. Surely you grasp this if you are a professor.

I don't think that the Purdue president is trying to disparage all mothers. He begins with an overly fawning and romanticized description of mothers, but then goes into the few that end up being the focus of the op-ed. I would personally be in favor of a policy that told professors to immediately disregard all parental contact. But, of course, no university will do that for fear of eliminating donations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Seems like a lot of you are taking this op-Ed personally! He’s not wrong, although I do take issue with the timing and singling out moms - because there have to be a few examples of dads doing this too even if it’s not as frequent. It could’ve been more balanced.

The point is that we are doing our kids a huge disservice by not stepping back and encouraging independence.

The editorial is a strong indicator that Purdue’s administrators are sexist. I would not want to send a smart girl there, based on this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s an important read for many on DCUM — don’t be like the moms he references. Let your college kids figure stuff out on their own!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/05/06/mothers-day-helicopter-parenting/

OP, are you a woman? You shoud be ashamed of yourself if you are. We have got to take the country and our lives back from these sexist, mysoginist pigs. What a hateful, horrible

man. If my kid were at Purdue (he's not, he's at a top 10 university, t thankfully), I would not pay another dime of tuition until this man releases a apology. Shameful.

OP here. Yes, I am a woman. Do you think the actual requests and commands that he mentions are appropriate? I hear this type of thing over and over from people who work in colleges and even at workplaces. The infantalizing of our adult children has to stop.

But not a single mention of men. It's mean-spirited at best but more accurately a reflection of the diretion this country is headed. We are no longer moving forward as women. I feel it in my life everyday. Being belittled and looked down on by men. So some moms can't let go. Of course I believe that. But so the hell what? Why do I care? I don't do that. What I do see everyday is my husband leaving every single aspect of parenting to me. Treating me as if I'm the hire help, even as I hold down a full-time, WOH job, and he doesn't. This guy is a sexist and is joining the whilte men chorus in taking women back down. Wake up.

Did you read the op-ed? He does mention men and fathers and says they do not submit anywhere near the number of questions as mothers.

Well, duh, they have their wives doing it for them. Did they stop their wives from doing it? Did they step in and say, "son, your mother shouldn't be doing this for you, time to adult?" No. No, they didn't; but who complains about them for their failure to raise independent competent kids who can find their own roommate? Much easier to blame the mom.

So you are okay with the moms submitting these concerns to a college?

I think for every mom who oversteps, there are 99 making sure the tuition bill is paid on time. He paints the minority as typical, while taking the financial and logistical support of the majority for granted.

+1
I work in higher ed. People love to talk trash about helicopter moms but the reality is that more than 99% don't do this. They just make sure their kids are there, the tuition is paid, their health insurance is figured out etc. I hear though lots of repeating about the handful of 'crazy moms' we have out of our tens of thousands of students.

Thanks for confirming this. That's what makes his "Happy Mother's Day" roast so infuriating. He takes up "tribute to mom" space by repeating his most egregious & entertaining & embellished cocktail party stories over that past 30 years and paints mothers with the stroke of cray cray. What's more, except for the most egregious examples (that we'd all agree cross the line), many of these start as legitimate concerns -- where parents absolutely have every right and should step in to ask about (depression, sickness, mold, safe living conditions, etc). Maybe those moms took it too far or maybe he's just full of shit.

yes

DP. I think the point is that the kids should be handling most of these issues themselves. Why is mom stepping in at all? Do moms have a right to call up a child’s employer to discuss workplace conditions?

It’s one thing if the student has raised serious issues with the school and gets ignored. But for most of the examples given, there’s no reason the mom should be the one leading the charge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s an important read for many on DCUM — don’t be like the moms he references. Let your college kids figure stuff out on their own!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/05/06/mothers-day-helicopter-parenting/

OP, are you a woman? You shoud be ashamed of yourself if you are. We have got to take the country and our lives back from these sexist, mysoginist pigs. What a hateful, horrible

man. If my kid were at Purdue (he's not, he's at a top 10 university, t thankfully), I would not pay another dime of tuition until this man releases a apology. Shameful.

OP here. Yes, I am a woman. Do you think the actual requests and commands that he mentions are appropriate? I hear this type of thing over and over from people who work in colleges and even at workplaces. The infantalizing of our adult children has to stop.

But not a single mention of men. It's mean-spirited at best but more accurately a reflection of the diretion this country is headed. We are no longer moving forward as women. I feel it in my life everyday. Being belittled and looked down on by men. So some moms can't let go. Of course I believe that. But so the hell what? Why do I care? I don't do that. What I do see everyday is my husband leaving every single aspect of parenting to me. Treating me as if I'm the hire help, even as I hold down a full-time, WOH job, and he doesn't. This guy is a sexist and is joining the whilte men chorus in taking women back down. Wake up.

Did you read the op-ed? He does mention men and fathers and says they do not submit anywhere near the number of questions as mothers.

Well, duh, they have their wives doing it for them. Did they stop their wives from doing it? Did they step in and say, "son, your mother shouldn't be doing this for you, time to adult?" No. No, they didn't; but who complains about them for their failure to raise independent competent kids who can find their own roommate? Much easier to blame the mom.

So you are okay with the moms submitting these concerns to a college?

I think for every mom who oversteps, there are 99 making sure the tuition bill is paid on time. He paints the minority as typical, while taking the financial and logistical support of the majority for granted.

+1
I work in higher ed. People love to talk trash about helicopter moms but the reality is that more than 99% don't do this. They just make sure their kids are there, the tuition is paid, their health insurance is figured out etc. I hear though lots of repeating about the handful of 'crazy moms' we have out of our tens of thousands of students.

Thanks for confirming this. That's what makes his "Happy Mother's Day" roast so infuriating. He takes up "tribute to mom" space by repeating his most egregious & entertaining & embellished cocktail party stories over that past 30 years and paints mothers with the stroke of cray cray. What's more, except for the most egregious examples (that we'd all agree cross the line), many of these start as legitimate concerns -- where parents absolutely have every right and should step in to ask about (depression, sickness, mold, safe living conditions, etc). Maybe those moms took it too far or maybe he's just full of shit.

yes

DP. I think the point is that the kids should be handling most of these issues themselves. Why is mom stepping in at all? Do moms have a right to call up a child’s employer to discuss workplace conditions?

It’s one thing if the student has raised serious issues with the school and gets ignored. But for most of the examples given, there’s no reason the mom should be the one leading the charge.

Most of the times, yes. Maybe we’re in agreement. But he cites examples that starts out a true medical, health & safety issues.