I have seen parents who hover over their children in high school.  I have also seen it, to some extent, in college.  I am amazed that I just heard it in a conference call of mostly parents whose adult children have been accepted into Teach for America.  My biggest concern, and one my daughter has pursued answers to herself, is that she not duplicate work she has already done.  She is already a certified teacher birth through grade 6 in New York.  Does she really need to take certification classes in Connecticut?  I mean I understand if she does but no one seems to know for sure.  There lies my first problem.  No one seems able to give a straight answer to the question.

But back to parents.  On the call I just hung up on – yes, it is rude but I had already spent an hour of my time and learned nothing that convinced me my daughter saying yes to this was a good idea – there were parents who wanted to know if Teach for America would pair up their child with a roommate to live with.  There were parents who thought the Institute time was inconvenient and couldn’t their child go to one in a city other than New York.  Institute is where student teaching takes place and those in Teach for America who were not education majors in college – 98% of the corps members – get classroom management training.

I could not help but think these parents are going to micromanage their children’s lives forever.  When I was asked if I had anything I was interested in finding out more about, my concern was very specific.  It was regarding transfer of certification.  I am not concerned for my daughter’s personal safety.  She is an adult and knows not to go walk out at night alone – a point that was made on the call.  I am not concerned about a roommate for my daughter.  She is an adult and will either find a roommate or will pay more in rent and live alone.  I am not concerned about the dates for induction or institute.  I know these are required and that, if this is what my daughter chooses, she has to go the dates that these events are taking place.

I simply said the choice to become a corps member was not mine but my daughter’s and I didn’t have any general questions.

Do parents ever let go of their children?