How This Actress Navigates Relatable Parenting Moment
By Movieguide® Contributor
Melissa Joan Hart’s oldest son Mason, 18, decided to not go to college, and the actress opened up about how she’s navigating his choice.
“He’s decided not to college right now, so that’s been tricky,” she told TODAY.
She acknowledged how it seems like more young adults are choosing other paths besides college.
“Kids these days aren’t going to college as much, I feel like. But when all your friends’ kids are off in college and they’re going through these milestones, it’s a little weird for your kid not to be going through the same milestones,” the actress explained.
READ MORE: HOW MELISSA JOAN HART PRIORITIZES FAMILY OVER FAME
“He wants to be in aviation, so he doesn’t really need to go to college for that. He’s 18. He’s got to make his own choices,” she said. “I was, like, this close to actually throwing him in the car and driving him to the college he got accepted to.”
“I don’t need him to go to college for college’s sake,” she said. “I wanted him to just have kind of the experience of going out in the in the world and exploring it in a safer environment for that soft landing outside of the home.”
Parenting older kids comes with other challenges, too.
“They are a little spoiled. I’m not going to lie,” Hart said earlier this year. “You want to give your kid everything and you want to make their life easy. But by doing that, you’re actually hurting them.”
She and her husband, Mike Wilkerson, are working on letting their kids experience “natural consequences.”
“Sometimes those natural consequences are harder on the parents, I think, but the kids learn a lesson from it,” she said.
Regardless of what Mason decides, Hart won’t stop praying for him.
READ MORE: MELISSA JOAN HART ON HER FAMILY: ‘WE PRAY CONSTANTLY’
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