- See students as separate, responsible beings, not just extensions of you.
- Love deeply; encourage diligently; expect realistically.
- Dare to risk your student’s disapproval of you.
- Ask questions about their uses of money and time.
- Help your student mature by talking about adult topics.
- Encourage your student to face and learn to deal with oppositional/difficult ideas and people rather than demanding to be kept free from them.
- Help your student see the big picture: will 35-year-old Bob like or hate 18-year-old Bob for choices he made during college?
- Talk with your student about the beauty and importance of nuance—not everything is either totally wonderful or completely horrible.
- Insist on face-to-face civility rather than “anonymous comment” destructiveness.
- Remind them that the very terms “diversity” and “tolerance” mean that there are differences among people and that they do not feel compelled to comply with some supposed “uniform college belief” system.
- Be sure they know that social media lasts forever and speaks louder than resumes.
David Embree is the director of Christian Campus House at Missouri State University and currently serves as president of the Campus Ministers Association. He also teaches in the Department of Religious Studies, where he specializes in New Religious Movements. He is eager to assist family members in any way he can.