Back to Campus: Parental Anxiety 101 -- What moms and dads need to know

On the day Susan Braun was to drop her son off at college 200 miles from home, she had mixed emotions.

"I woke up crying at 5:30, saying, 'Why don't you go to Adelphi?'" Braun recalled Thursday as she was stuck in traffic on the George Washington Bridge on the way to Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pa. "On the one hand, you're so happy for your child and how ready they are to move on and try new challenges."

Braun is the administrator at the Waldorf School of Garden City, from which her son graduated, and is used to seeing students leave for far-flung colleges.

But as the days got closer to when her only child, Christopher Smalley, 18, would be leaving home, Braun found herself worrying: "Is he going to be getting enough sleep? Is he going to let the stress get to him?"

Parents across Long Island are asking questions these days as they help pack their children's belongings or accompany them to campuses across the country.

CRIME/CAMPUS SECURITY

With the recent violence at Virginia Tech, Sheryl Parsard of Lynbrook said she worries about her daughter, Kaneesha, 18, going to the University of Pennsylvania at the end of the month. But she finds comfort in knowing that her daughter's school offers escorts if students feel unsafe walking alone on campus at night. "I understand that at any time she's out somewhere she can call and someone will escort her back to her room," Parsard said.

Parsard said she also likes the fact that the university has its own police force.

Linda LaRocca of West Babylon said going with her son, Thomas, 18, to help him settle in at University of Central Florida in Orlando helped ease her fears about how safe he would be there. "The area is safe," she said. "We feel secure about leaving him there." She said university officials assured parents that campus officers are now trained in SWAT operations and patrol the university constantly.

Marion Bencivenga of Lynbrook said she tries not to let recent events make her paranoid about safety at the University of Miami, where her daughter Lauren, 18, will be a freshman. "You can't hold your children back because of things like that," Bencivenga said.

TIPS: Safety is on the minds of most college administrators, says Karen Levin Coburn, associate dean for freshman transition at Washington University in St. Louis and co-author of "Letting Go: A Parent's Guide to Understanding the College Years."

"The reality is that campuses are very safe places," she says. Parents should learn about campus resources such as shuttle service at night and text messaging notification for emergencies, she says.

Leigh Remy, assistant dean of first-year students at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, recommends that parents research campus crime statistics, which often are available on school Web sites. ...

•	Back to Campus: Parental Anxiety 101 -- What moms and dads need to know Newsday (NY), Sunday, Aug. 19, 2007 Byline: Jennifer Sinco Kelleher