Do they walk alone?

• Are you aware that one in six (that is 1 in 6) women in their lifetime will be attacked or raped? 1 out of every 6 American women have been the victims of an attempted or completed rape in their lifetime (14.8% completed rape; 2.8% attempted rape).

• 17.7 million American women have been victims of attempted or completed rape.

• College age women are 4 times more likely to be sexually assaulted.

• About 3% of American men — or 1 in 33 — have experienced an attempted or completed rape in their lifetime.

• Every 2 minutes, someone in the U.S. is sexually assaulted.

As more and more instances of campus violence are reported on the news, college students and their parents are beginning to be concerned about campus safety, and with good reason. Educate yourself and your student on college safety products.

There are door jams, pepper spray and hidden cameras. Check out the internet for products appropriate for you and your college student. Tools for safety are good investments. Both you and your student will sleep better at night.

If the student starts off the semester organizing their notes, then when mid terms and finals roll around, they are organized for study and don’t waste time, gathering their notes. The notes can be shared so students can collaborate. It is a tool of common sense that may work for your student.

Good habits need to start immediately. Then the habits can be maintained through out the college experience and the rest of their lives.

Procrastination affects 90% of all college students with 25% of college

students being chronic procrastinators. These are the students that drop out.

A student can only go for so long before they have burned all their bridges,

and no excuse will work.

College diplomas are not given to the student that did not complete the

requirements. It is an easy formula. The student does the work.

Passes the courses and then gets the diploma.

So, what is procrastination and how can you as a parent help your college student?

Procrastination, pure and simple, is the avoidance of doing a task. Of course, this is

accompanied by feelings of guilt, inadequacy and self doubt. Procrastination will interfere

with personal and academic success.

Procrastination is letting a low priority task… get in the way of a high priority task….

From the parent’s perspective how have you enabled procrastination?

The helicopter parent covers for the student, does the work for the student

and makes excuses for the student. The parent does not allow the student or

the child to learn the lesson and feel the consequences that go along with the

procrastination as children. With youth the consequences are not so dire but

when the young person is an employee or a college student, they are held

accountable, period. No excuses. No Mom or Dad calling the office…

If the student gets away with the procrastination, they have no reason to

change their habits. Procrastination can be cute and laughed off as a child

but it is not cute when someone else has to pick up their slack.

What works in discouraging procrastination? Answer: Serious consequences.

Procrastinators have distorted thinking. They think they can get that term

paper done the night before. They think they might get lucky and guess all

the right answers on the exam. They think they can watch TV and get their

calculus take home exam done… and get an “A “.

Chronic procrastinators have lower GPA’s no matter how high their IQ.

They just have difficulty with self regulation. They want what feels good,

and they are unable to deny themselves.

This problem can become a life long issue. Procrastinators do not make

good employees because other employees resent having to cover for them.

It affects friendships because they cannot be counted on. The procrastinator

has the intention of being a good friend, but the follow through may not happen.

They forget to send the card, make that phone call or follow through with a promise.

Statistically, procrastinators are also a poor health risk because they tend to

postpone taking care of themselves. Since they procrastinate, they neglect

problems. Procrastinators, since they have avoidant coping styles, often

continue to smoke, drink and overeat.

What is some advice for chronic and casual procrastinators?

Improving time Management is too global. Do not buy any management

systems, calendars, books on time management… The student does not have

the time to read them. They probably already have a stack of them any way.

Some suggestions you might offer your student:

* Divide large tasks into small tasks and then do the steps, one at a time.

* Have realistic goals. There is no homework fairy.

* Choose a proper study environment and that does not include a bed or a comfy stuffed chair. A wooden table and chair is probably your best bet.

* Discipline. Do tasks in short doses and then reward yourself appropriately.

* Study in small study groups * Disable your SMS, Chat and cell phone while you are studying.

* Use Facebook and MySpace as rewards to getting homework complete.

Procrastination has dire consequences. Communicate to your student that all

the fun of being independent and on their own in college can quickly be over.

Their future will be working boring minimum wage jobs doing manual labor. Life

can quickly get out of control and their future options will become limited. College

provides a life lesson that must be learned. Procrastination may be something your

student will always struggle with but they will reap rewards by keeping it under control.

Procrastination gets better as good habits are practiced. As your student finds success

in keeping up with their assignments, they will actually enjoy the reward of being responsible.

Homemaker Barbi - http://www.homemakerbarbi.com

Not all of the tools available on the internet work for everyone. It is a good idea though to look at everything and then decide what works best for you. Share these tools with your student. Maybe they will use them, maybe they won’t. It is up to them. They have to decide what works for them… This is important, the student decides this. As parents, we can just offer a variety of tools for their tool box!

http://www.studyrails.com/

I had one of the few college students that was prone to procrastination and was distracted by all the fun going on outside the library benefit from time management and organization tips. I am thinking, there are other students that need all the tips we can give them for success.

If you have some tips, let us hear them!

As parents, we can help our students to be independent yet organized. The idea is to find a system that works and that is user friendly.

http://www.daylert.com/

Let me know any feedback on this system or any other system that you and your student has used successfully. There are many different systems and everyone is different. So, whatever works is fine but find a system.

My suggestion is to have a system in place before your student goes off in the fall. This way you can be in tune with each other. As the semester progresses dates can be added. When a parent understands the students schedule, they can have appropriate expectations.

A common calender can become a great communication tool.