You are much more involved in your child’s life than your parents’ were with yours.
You are in constant contact with your child.
Your child calls with any problems regarding roommates, classes, etc., expecting you to help resolve the situation.
You are doing the research (including being the main contact) for your child about study abroad programs.

Answering yes to some, or all, of these statements may make the study abroad process for your student more difficult. We know that you want your student to be happy, healthy, and safe. Your close relationship with your student is enriching for all. However, it can be harmful as well if your student has not begun dealing with decisions and conflicts on their own. To have a successful study abroad experience, students need to be independent, able to solve problems on their own or with the assistance of the onsite staff, and be motivated to study and explore their new home.

We encourage you to “let grow” rather than “let go” of your student to help prepare them for studying in another country. Here are some tips:

Let your student take the lead in researching study abroad programs and being the main contact. This helps both your student and the study abroad program advisor get to know each other.
When your student asks for advice, give appropriate input but require your student to be the final decision maker in regards to what program to attend, etc.
When your student is abroad, don’t react immediately to unhappy phone calls. Students often vent to their parents, but then quickly resolve the situation and go on without telling their parents everything worked out fine.
Do not get involved in resolving student roommate, social, or grading issues. Help your student be a strong self-advocate by giving them the responsibility of resolving these issues on their own.
Coach your student regarding finances by working together to plan and budget for their time abroad.
Don’t expect or encourage your student to call or email you every day (and don’t do the same to them) while they are abroad. This interrupts their acculturation process and inhibits them from fully immersing in their experience.

We want you to be involved with your student’s experience, but in a helpful, productive way for everyone. An example of helpful involvement is if your student is in such physical or emotional trauma that they cannot handle normal communication. They may call you to help resolve this. Another example is if you notice behaviors that are not normal in your student, such as stopping all communications or if conversations or emails manifest depression. In these instances, we encourage and expect you to communicate with us so we can help the student.

One last tip is that students will usually have some adjustment issues during the first few weeks of their study abroad experience. This is very normal, but they won’t necessarily recognize it as cultural adjustment. They will probably call you, complaining about their roommates, the food, their school, etc. We have provided all students with a pre-departure booklet on cultural adjustment that can help them through this process. Our onsite staff is also aware that this will be happening and they are on the lookout to identify students struggling through this and help them through the process.