A common reputation parents garner is that they are out of touch with younger generations. While this is a generalization, for a few parents on the Guilford Parent Pipeline, an open forum for Guilford parents, this reputation holds true. My mother introduced me to the Parent Pipeline sometime ago, laughing about something a parent had written. Shortly thereafter, I joined too, so I could read the frequently ridiculous posts.

Some posts, I realized in time, went beyond ridiculous to down right idiotic. One topic where the parental reputation of being out of touch rings particularly true is in the alcohol and drug discussion.

One parent wrote, “I am astounded by the wide-open drug use and rampant underage drinking which is occurring ON campus.”

Astounded by college kids drinking?

One woman, a mother of a sophomore from Virginia, was very vocal and wrote adults are “being held hostage” by partying college kids, who she described as “a bunch of spoiled, irresponsible kids.”

Her post didn’t end with her opinion of college kids; she even dished out a very “reasonable” solution to the problem, writing, “Ditch the co-ed dorms, go back to locking the doors at 10:30 and have adults in residence to enforce the rules.”

Another parent, the mother of a sophomore, also wrote, “The days of house parents and curfews should return.”

It’s funny that so many parents would be so outraged and demand drastic measures, especially given that some parents on the forum admitted their own college exploits. The vocal mother from Virginia wrote that she “got stupid more than a few times” while drinking with friends in college.

What did these parents expect when they sent their children off to college? Did they expect it to be nothing like their own college experiences? The name of the school is not Guilford Convent or Bob Jones University (good thing too, because despite its strict stance on drugs and drinking and archaic rules, Bob Jones is not accredited by SACS).

The truth of the matter is drinking and drugs exist on college campuses and from stories that I’ve heard about other schools, Guilford isn’t that big of a party school.

I was shocked by some of what the parents posted. Many of the views expressed are very black and white. You are either a good kid who is straight edged or a kid who drinks or does drugs and is quickly dismissed as a bad seed. The mother from Virginia wrote for these kids “there should be no second chances.”

If there were “no second chances,” let’s be honest, there would be just about no one at this school.

The thing is it’s not every parent on the forum making a fuss. It’s the same parents regurgitating the same narrow views.

Parents not only make out-of-touch comments about drinking and drug use, but they also seem against allowing their children to experience the different things life has to offer. Then, they turn around and undermine college-aged students, pegging them as “spoiled” and as poor judges of situations because of age.

The mother from Virginia made a condescending remark to a student on the forum, writing, “To be young and have ALL the answers. So good of you to enlighten all of us old folks who have years of making difficult choices, learning the hard way, actually experiencing life.”

Life is not a two way street. Some parents seem content with sheltering their children, but on the other hand, they dismiss college students for not having enough “life experience.”

College is the crossroads of school and the real world. Somewhere students are introduced to adult experiences. At college, students are able to prepare for the future and even learn certain life lessons “the hard way.”

How are kids going to “learn the hard way” with a 10:30 p.m. curfew at age 18, 19 and 20?