I think it depends. Some parents do look through rose colored glasses. Some coaches make it miserable. Our son's sophomore year was very stressed filled and not fun. Our coach is old school. Tended to be condescending. and had a lot of kids questioning themselves. Told one P5 kid that he didn't know what the school saw in him. Told a future second rounder (out of hs) that he shouldn't be worried about the mlb. Threatened to cut kids after mistakes (in front of the team). Told my kid that college coaches wouldn't like his delivery and if he didn't change it, he would sit all year. He sat all year. Lots of college coaches called him to have my son call and we have NO idea what he said to them. It was a confidence drain. He still committed to a P5 that summer. The next year he played, they needed him, but the conversations were the same. He learned to let it roll off his back. I will say we have heard now from a lot of guys that their college coaches are just as brutal in the things they say and how demeaning they can be. I guess in most cases, it's just good training for what they will experience in the future.