I was pretty homesick during my first semester. Then I went home for Thanksgiving, and couldn't wait to get back to school. It's a normal adjustment period. Some kids may need the whole year to get it together.

My kid would be staying at school. They can talk to the counseling office, but they have to leave the nest sometime and college is the time of their life when they will have the most support for the transition.

DD deleted all her social media accounts before college (cue DCUM to say that she’s lying to me).

I hate how cell phones, social media, (and for boys online gaming) have kept kids so locked into their high school cliques. College is when you're supposed to go put effort into making a bunch of new friends. Instead I see high school friend groups more entrenched, holding onto those old friends and making fewer new friends, for better or for worse.

Social media and hyper-connectivity has ruined college.

Teens can't really reinvent themselves anymore. Everyone is stalking your social media, it takes five seconds to stalk how popular (or not) you were in high school, who your parents are, what they do for a living, how rich you are, where you live. The random and serendipitous connections happen with such less frequency. The same rung of kids gravitate to each often long before welcome week, so you just show up on welcome week it can feel like everyone is already friends, because they already were!

And the 24/7 bragging about social life, your pretty friends, how great your life is, how rich you are, the trips your have taken or are on, subtle references or backdrops of your parents' expensive house and second home.

It’s not “this generation.”

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would not let my college freshman come home if they were homesick. Tough it out - go make friends.

A generation of snowflakes. I remember crying myself to sleep for the first three or four weeks I missed my family SO much (my dogs more, lol). My mother spent countless hours on the phone talking me down and virtually holding my hand and encouraging me. I thank God everyday for my family and our closeness, but I especially am thankful for the bond I have with my mother, she has always been there no matter how truly small my problem is ...

Jeez, can we stop with the snowflake thing. Seems like you were just as emotional as any 18 year old moving away from home for the first time.

+1. Time to retire the "snowflake" label for this generation. They have and are dealing with far more than we did at their age.

Anonymous wrote:The amount of money we are paying for college and the dorms look worse than the shelter

I would (and my kid) would gladly take a reduced price for the bare minimum dorms. DD requested a triple room.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would not let my college freshman come home if they were homesick. Tough it out - go make friends.

A generation of snowflakes. I remember crying myself to sleep for the first three or four weeks I missed my family SO much (my dogs more, lol). My mother spent countless hours on the phone talking me down and virtually holding my hand and encouraging me. I thank God everyday for my family and our closeness, but I especially am thankful for the bond I have with my mother, she has always been there no matter how truly small my problem is ...

By your definition, you are also a snowflake.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I watch TikTok before bed

That may be the very worst possible thing you could do before sleep - stare at your blue light phone and passively swipe through an app that quick cuts through bright lights and loud noises, changing rapidly with every swipe. Especially if you tend to look at emotional or very political content as tends to be the case on TikTok.

+1 Only DCUM before bed. And first thing in the morning.

If you think your kid could use it, share this video made by a freshman an Cornell a few years back.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAUcoadqRlE

It was well done (for her Digital Media class!!).

Anonymous wrote:I watch TikTok before bed

That may be the very worst possible thing you could do before sleep - stare at your blue light phone and passively swipe through an app that quick cuts through bright lights and loud noises, changing rapidly with every swipe. Especially if you tend to look at emotional or very political content as tends to be the case on TikTok.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would not let my college freshman come home if they were homesick. Tough it out - go make friends.

A generation of snowflakes. I remember crying myself to sleep for the first three or four weeks I missed my family SO much (my dogs more, lol). My mother spent countless hours on the phone talking me down and virtually holding my hand and encouraging me. I thank God everyday for my family and our closeness, but I especially am thankful for the bond I have with my mother, she has always been there no matter how truly small my problem is ...

You are a bit of a snowflake yourself to be name calling. We couldn't afford hours on the phone back when it cost money to make a long distance call. Then again, I didn't have attachment issues, so it was all good. I had a great time, and sent my parents long letters about my new life so they wouldn't worry, and I looked forward to their letters and the two trips home per year to see them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would not let my college freshman come home if they were homesick. Tough it out - go make friends.

A generation of snowflakes. I remember crying myself to sleep for the first three or four weeks I missed my family SO much (my dogs more, lol). My mother spent countless hours on the phone talking me down and virtually holding my hand and encouraging me. I thank God everyday for my family and our closeness, but I especially am thankful for the bond I have with my mother, she has always been there no matter how truly small my problem is ...

LOL - Kettle, meet Pot. Why call these kids snowflakes when your post is about your exact same inability to adjust to living outside the home and needing your Mom to hold your hand?

Let’s dissect. If a kid is really homesick, why would they post on social media vs…… CALL THEIR FAMILY.! The drama is exhausting.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would not let my college freshman come home if they were homesick. Tough it out - go make friends.

A generation of snowflakes. I remember crying myself to sleep for the first three or four weeks I missed my family SO much (my dogs more, lol). My mother spent countless hours on the phone talking me down and virtually holding my hand and encouraging me. I thank God everyday for my family and our closeness, but I especially am thankful for the bond I have with my mother, she has always been there no matter how truly small my problem is ...

Sounds like you were the snowflake PP.

Nope, I stayed at school with support from my family. Normal. Coming home to my childhood bed and blanky, not normal. There is a positive way to cut those strings and my family did it correctly.