There has been a shift in parenting during the last few years. More and more, it seems, parents are trying to manage their children's lives. But we're not just talking about gradeschoolers. Today, loving, intelligent and well-meaning parents are intervening in the day-to-day activities of their sons and daughters who are in college. In the book, Millennials Go to College, authors Neil Howe and William Strauss called the phenomenon "helicopter parenting," because parents are right there, hovering around their children at all times.

Dickinson College is not exempt from this national trend. In fact, it raises good questions about how parents and the college can work together to help our students mature and learn valuable life skills. We want your student's college experience to be as productive as possible—academically, socially and personally—and some experts suggest that too much parental involvement can be counterproductive and actually impede your student's progress toward these goals.

Of course, there may be times when parental involvement is the best course of action—we're not trying to override your judgment—but for routine problems, it's best to let students handle the situations on their own. And there are trained professionals on campus to help students navigate these issues.

So how can you tell if you might have some helicopter-parent tendencies? Take our short quiz, which was developed with input from Dickinson's Parents Council, and you'll find tips for helping your student through his or her college years.

Take the quiz