Helpful Resources for Parents
Useful Links
- National Resource Center for First Year Experience and Students in Transition
- PFLAG is the largest organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) people, their parents and families, and allies.
- National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) support groups for adult with a loved one who has experienced symptoms of a mental health condition
- RAINN works with survivors of sexual assault and has helpful tips on supporting a loved one who has experienced assault
- Find treatment for mental health or substance abuse concerns across the U.S. and territories with SAMHSA
Helpful Books
Binge: Campus Life in an Age of Disconnection and Excess (What Your College Student Won't Tell You)
by Barrett Seaman, John Wiley and Sons, 2005. Former Time Magazine reporter, and trustee at his alma mater, Hamilton College, offers an eye-opening perspective on current student affairs and campus life.
Don't Tell Me What to Do, Just Send Money: The Essential Guide to the College Years
by Helen E. Johnson and Christine Schelhas-Miller. Golden Guides from St. Martin's Press 2011.
(Schelhas-Miller is on the faculty at Cornell.) "One of the most difficult parts of being the parent of a college student is observing from afar as your child makes the often bumpy transition from dependence to independence. After years of being a responsible, caring, and 'in control' parent, this change can be frightening, rewarding, and nerve-racking-- sometimes all in the same week!"
Letting Go: A Parents' Guide to Understanding the College Years
by Karen Levin Coburn and Madge Lawrence Treeger. Harper Perennial; 5th edition 2009.
The Price of Privilege: How Parental Pressure and Material Advantage Are Creating a Generation of Disconnected and Unhappy Kids
by Madeline Levine, PhD. Harper Perennial 2008.
Smashed: Story of a Drunken Girlhood
by Karen Zailckas. Viking Penguin Books 2006.
When Your Kid Goes to College: A Parent's Survival Guide
by Carol Barkin. William Morrow Paperbacks 1999.
You're On Your Own (But I'm Here if You Need Me): Mentoring Your Child During the College Years
by Majorie Savage. Touchstone 2009.
College of the Overwhelmed: The Campus Mental Health Crisis and What to Do About It
by Richard D. Kadison, MD and Theresa Foy DiGeronimo. Jossey-Bass 2005.