Leaving home
Going away to university is always a tricky time both for the students
Who are leaving home and their parents who are staying behind. We got advice on how to cope from a student daughter and her dad
A daughter ’s advice to parents, by keery price
My parents drove me to uni at the beginning of the first term. That was great, but then they hung around, so it was hard to chat to the people in the rooms near mine. It’ best if you lever us to unpack ourselves.
Don’t ask us to come home during term time. There’s a lot going on at weekends there just isn’t time.
Get another interest or a pet if you feel lonely without us. Don’t make us feel guilty about leaving home! It is quite interesting to hear about your experiences at uin, but remember that it was a LONG time ago so don’t go on about it so much. Things have changed a lot. New we have a lot more debt and it’ll be harder to find a job in the future.
Please don’t check up on or our friends on Facebook . I know it’t a public site, but we have that right to some privacy.
Don’t change anything in or bedrooms. We have only half left home - we ‘ll be back in the holidays, so please don’t touch anything. We’d still like to come on family holidays with you. Don’t forget to include us just because we’re not there all the time.
A father’s advice to students, by Stuart Price
Don’t complain so much about how much work you have to do a lot too. You’re an adult now, gut used to it. Put up with the the fact that we refused to get a dog while you were at home, then suddenly bought one as soon as you moved out. We miss you!
Lust because you’re at university studying very complex subjects, it doesn’t mean that you’re more intelligent than everybody else. Don’t treat you family as if they were stupid; we’re really not.
Let us come and visit you
Now and again. We promise to try not to embarrass you in front of your friend. We just want to see you for a short time and take you out for a meal.
Don’t waste so much time on Facebook. You need time for all that work you have to do, remember ?
We might make a few changes to you room, so deal with it. It’s great to have a guest room at last, but we won’t change things too much, promise.
Don’t forget to call home from time to time and don’t get annoyed if we phone you. It’s not pestering. lf we didn’t call, you wouldn’t know that we care.
Check your understanding : multiple choice
Circle the best option to complete these sentences.
1. When children leave home to go to university, it’s ________.
a. the moment they’ve been waiting for
b. a difficult experience
c.more difficult for parents than for children
d. more difficult for children than for parents.
2. kerr says when students first go to uni, parent should________.
a. give their children a lift and then stay a while.
b. give them a them a lift and then leave.
c. let their children find their own transport.
d. help them unpack their things.
3. Kerry says when students should________.
a. do everything they can to avoid upsetting lonely parents
b. go home regularly while everyone gets used to the change
c. not feel had about spending weekends in their university town
d. avoid visiting their parents too much during time
4. Kerry thinks Faceboot is________.
a. a good way to send private messages to family
b. a good way to show her parents what she’s doing with her friends
c. a space that parents should keep away from
d. great for parents as long as you’re careful with your privacy settings
5. Stuart think students sometimes________.
a. look down on people who are not studying
b. ask for help with their work too much
c. talk about their university subjects too much
d. forget that their parennts were young once
6. Stuart says parents would like to________.
a. stay for at least one night when they visit
b. meet their son or daughter’s university friends
c. come and visit at least once a for