The Collegian

Issue date: 4/10/08 Section: Opinion

Most parenting blogs say a mom should wait until her baby is ready to stop nursing. Perhaps the same advice should apply to moving out - it should happen as a private decision when the kid is ready.

Until this year, students aspiring to live off-campus needed their parents' approval in signature form. Students thought the policy suck(l)ed.

But this spring, the deans have changed the policy. Their decision respects the parents while allowing the students to handle their own adult affairs. Now, students simply must confirm they've talked the move over with their folks, and the deans send a copy of the off-campus contract home, too.

(It's in students' best interest to consult with their parents anyway. But official permission and the burden of getting a parental signature never provided the right incentive for students to consult their parents.)

The deans made the decision in part to cut down on paperwork and reduce red tape, but the effect is the same: Students are given more responsibility to grow up and handle moving out on their own.

The policy change, itself, is not significant, as Dean of Men Aaron Petersen put it. The implications, however, are.

Hillsdale encourages parental involvement, which can be wonderful. Events like Parents' Weekend ease Mom and Pop into letting their pride and joy out into the world. And parents do play an essential role in the lives of their children. Even the lives of their adult children.

But Hillsdale must not encourage helicopter parenting. And some policies lend themselves to too much parental involvement.

For example, parent-teacher conferences often exclude students. For another example, grades have been sent to parents- even parents of students who pay their own tuition.
As we grow up, we will be expected to take responsibility for our own actions. So policies that hold us completely accountable prepare us to be more responsible, independent adults.

The deans' decision attests to the good decisions the student body generally makes.

Smart students will realize the value of this change, and they'll use their off-campus status as a chance to prove their maturity.

Hillsdale College claims it prepares its students for self-government. This changed policy gives students a chance to put their book learning to practical use.

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