Editorial:

MU needs to make accommodations for parents

Published Oct. 30, 2009

Whether people realize it, nearly everyone on campus comes into contact on a daily basis with someone who has a child. Obviously, a good majority of professors have children. Also, graduate students and teaching assistants might have children. Even undergraduate students have children. For the number of people on campus with children, the university is not especially parent-friendly.

The Graduate Professional Council, Graduate Student Association, Mizzou Families Involved Together and the MU Council on Family Relations want to change that. Two of their biggest issues are child care and lack of a supportive social network.

It can be difficult for students with families to go to events at night. By holding some events during the day or by having day care options at night, this problem could be solved.

Naturally, we do not want all events held during the day. That would inconvenience all undergraduate students in class during those times. Extending day care options to the nighttime could also work, but would be costly.

The organizations also want to raise awareness of lactation spots on campus as well as close parking spots for pregnant women and those who have recently given birth. Publicizing those things more would be a huge step in the right direction.

One of their other ideas is a spot for parents to go and study. Setting up an area with computers and a play area for children could help these students out immensely. Student parents really have no place to study if their children are with them. It is not as if they can go into Ellis Library or Memorial Union to work while their children either sit next to them, bored for hours, or run amuck among college students.

Having that study area for parents would help to create social networks for them. Going to school while raising young children is extremely difficult. Those students need somewhere to go to commiserate with other students like them.

There do need to be changes made on campus in order to make things more parent-friendly. These four organizations need to reach out to faculty in order to make this happen. In the long run, these changes could benefit basically every group on campus.