Saralee Renick
Contributing Writer
Over quarantine, I grew tired of Netflix, so I turned to the next best form of entertainment: The Wooster Parents and Families Facebook page. This page, run by The College of Wooster Alumni Association, is a place for parents and family members to connect with others and the College. Throughout my three months in this group, I have learned two important lessons. First, I am thankful for my parents. And second, parents are wild.
I am thankful for my parents because they are not like the parents who are most active on the page. In fact, my mom did not even know the page existed until I told her about it; she joined and is now constantly annoyed by it. My father continues to reject my invitations to join it. I think it’s because I describe the page as parents who want to be helicopter parents, but don’t know enough to properly execute it.
The post that demonstrates this best is a parent who was in search of the personal contact information of their child’s RA. Or maybe it’s the parents who posted unnecessary photos of their children throughout the COVID-19 testing process. Or the parent who asked the page where the printers were on campus. Other posts lack boundaries, asking questions students could find the answers to themselves and generally invite annoyance. Now when I call my mom to complain about a problem, she asks me if she should post on the parents’ page to ask for a solution.
This is not to say that the page doesn’t provide some useful content. I learned about the upcoming flu shots and the COVID-19 isolation and quarantine procedures. However, these posts are few and far between. Generally, the page just provides a space for Wooster parents to go wild. A few weeks ago, a parent asked about students feeling nervous while walking down Beall Avenue. This started an 87-comment argument between parents and quickly turned into a liberal versus conservative brawl. Fortunately, The College of Wooster Alumni Association stepped in with a post to remind parents that this page is not, in fact, the presidential debate stage. Then last week, a parent foolishly posted the email from President Bolton about the Trump parade. Again, a 61-comment scuffle ensued. While our parents have taught us to respect other people and their opinions, they seem to just have gone wild on Facebook.
While many posts annoy or frustrate me, they also entertain me. Parents are naïve, aggressive and, sometimes, just weird. I like to laugh at and discuss the posts with my friends. Overall, the page provides great conversation starters and I rate it 5/5 stars. And now, I must beg the Alumni Association to not kick me off of the page.
