Doting moms and dads the bane of universities

They may be destined to land good jobs in prestigious companies but they will probably never attain great heights as future leaders, titans of industry and the like--because they're mommy's boys ... and daddy's little girls.

Officials at universities across the country are flabbergasted at the level of pampering some parents bestow on their children.

For example, a phone rings at a university staff room and the person who picks it up is stunned to hear the caller ask:

"Could you tell when and where we can buy textbooks?"

The call is not from a student; it's from a parent.

Other examples of parents' calls that have caught staff by surprise at nine private universities in major cities go like this:

"My son is staying at home today because he says classes are canceled today. Is that true?"

Or: "My son will be absent today. Could you tell the professor?"

Or: "My son complains the classroom is full and he can't find a seat. Why is that?"

Or: "My daughter couldn't take a test in class. What should she do?"

The anecdotes are seemingly endless.

University teachers and officials have noted a sharp increase in such questions along with requests and complaints from "overprotective" parents in recent years.

Some parents protest after hearing from their children what was apparently intended as a joke in a classroom.

A professor who confides in class that he has a hangover should be prepared to field a call from parent expressing outrage.

Some parents resort to writing a letter of protest to the president.

An official recalled an instance in which a father visiting a career guidance section with his son was scrutinizing the job-openings far more intently than his lad.

Others plead with teachers to give "special consideration" so their children can graduate.

University staff also have had a hard time making sure their entrance ceremony hall can accommodate all those who want to attend.

Participant numbers have ballooned in recent years with more parents accompanying their children.

Each year, Hosei University and Toyo University, both in Tokyo, rent the mammoth Nippon Budokan hall that can accommodate up to 14,000 people.

They also limited those accompanying one student to two. Even so, the hall is always full.

Meiji University, also in Tokyo, this year divided the new students into two groups and held the ceremony at the Budokan twice.

At some universities that place no limits, not just parents but grandparents or relatives with small children often turn up.

Many parents form a line two hours before the hall is open so they can dash to the best spot to shoot a video of their precious offspring.

At "open campus" events, which target high school students hankering for a university education by offering first-hand information, guardians are now a common sight, too.

Chubu University in Aichi Prefecture and Kansai University in Osaka Prefecture now set up corners specially for visiting parents.

"On entrance exam day, parents used to see their children off at school gates, but they don't go home now; there are so many waiting that rooms set aside for them are often not enough," said an official of a school in the Tokyo area.

Most teachers and staff attribute the rise in indulgent parents to the decline in the number of children.

Many also note that even as children grow apart from parents, many parents are simply unwilling to let go.

Problem not unique to Japan

Parents who spoil their children in this way are creating a generation of kids who are "just waiting around for instructions" and not thinking for themselves, said an official.

That said, pampering parents are not unique to Japan.

In the United States, overprotective parents came to be known as "helicopter parents" in the 1990s. The term refers to the way they "hover" just above their children's heads, closely monitoring them so they can quickly help out when a crisis arises.

But Masatoshi Onoda, a professor of education systems at Osaka University in Osaka, believes universities need to respond to parents' voices "to some extent."

"Many parents these days are university graduates; since they know what universities are like, they want to learn more and request higher levels of 'customer satisfaction,'" Onoda says.

Increasingly, universities are setting up programs for parents, such as forums for exchange.

Rikkyo University in Tokyo holds an education forum at some 20 locations across the nation each year.

The program includes a briefing by each department, exchanges with teachers and individual guidance sessions on students' academic records and future job prospects.

Report cards for each student are also given out to the parents in attendance.

Major private universities such as Meiji, Hosei, Ritsumeikan and Kansai have similar programs.

One school distributes booklets on students' job hunting activities specially prepared for parents.

The Kansai University of International Studies, a small school in Hyogo Prefecture, organizes a one-day bus trip for guardians and teachers every year.

Many universities mail students' academic records to their guardians. It is a way to fulfill their accountability to prepare for parental protests when students fail in their courses.

"It's better to win support of overprotective parents so they join us in supporting students until their graduation," said an official of one university.(IHT/Asahi: June 18,2008)