So, I think it is important to step back and try to understand what they are going through. Many may be experiencing the recruiting process for the first time. I know I felt extremely paniced and overwhelmed the first time around. I still remember what it was like.
JMO
Exactly. We just don't know how much experience and awareness parents bring to the recruiting trail.
When my baseball-playing son was about to enter high school, I asked his Little League Juniors/Seniors coach if his goal of playing baseball in college was realistic. This coach told me my son needs to reconcile himself to the fact that he's just a recreation-level player.
My background was football and wrestling, and all I knew about evaluating baseball talent was that I wasn't qualitifed to do it. As a result, this coach's harsh verdict was the only baseball opinion I had to go on until sophomore year when a knowledgeable coach called me up and said my son could have a future in baseball and needed to get into a travel program.
If I had come on this site at that time and asked questions about my son's prospects, I could easily have been accused of trolling for compliments, too.
Over the course of just a few years, we went from aiming too low (maybe D3) to aiming too high (major conference D1, where he initially went) to eventually settling out at a level where he could compete and develop (lower tier D1).
We need to be careful about assuming we know where other people are coming from and what they're up to.