Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Modern day helicopter parenting
An essay on the effects of helicopter parenting
Helicopter parents expository essay
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
In the article “Helicopter Parents Now Hover at the Office,” The Wall Street Journal columnist Sue Shellenbarger reveals that some parents have begun to involve themselves into their adult children’s job search. Shellenbarger explains that many parent have a hard time watching their child struggle since they have taken part in their daily lives for so long. She then describes that some children do not appreciate the hovering of their parents because the hovering prevents them from developing self independence.
Helicopter parenting is often referred to as over parenting or bulldozing parenting, which means parents “who pay extremely close attention to a child's or children's experiences and problems, particularly at educational institutions” (“Helicopter Parenting”). These parents are included in all aspects of their children's lives and have a difficult time stepping back to let them be independent. Teenagers and college students who have these types of parents have been seen to have low self-confidence and difficulty adjusting to college. Studies have shown that young adults who’ve had parents take care of their problems and complete all their daily tasks have more negative effects than positive. Parents have to learn that it is okay to let their
Online predators, pornography, drug trafficking, piracy, and hate sites are just some of the dangers that a child can face on the internet. The article “The Undercover Parent” by Harlan Coben states that parents should use spyware to monitor their children. Coben argues that parents should be able to know what is in their children’s lives. he believes that spyware can prevent children from being targeted by internet predators on social networking sites and even prevent children from being cyber bullied. I agree with Coben’s claim that parents should consider using spyware as a protection for their teens online. There are many possible dangers facing children on the internet and it is essential that parents install spyware.
Helicopter parenting is the term used to describe parents who are overly involved in their child’s lives/decisions, to the point it becomes a detriment for the child. Helicopter parenting can facilitate a child’s over dependence on the parenting system (van Ingen, 2015). Severe cases of helicopter parenting stunts a student’s ability to learn and grow independently. Helicopter parents indirectly communicate to their children, that they are unable to handle their own life. This can cause students to be fearful of making choices on their own, without first receive feedback from their parental figure. Helicopter parenting can also have far-reaching and lasting effects on a child’s psyche,
Parents. They are our caregivers, our first teachers and our only guidance. But in order to provide these things, they must work. Of course, working parents are stressed. But they want to spend time with their children while they can. Unfortunately, binding work schedules do not allot family time. In the article, “Double Daddy” the author expresses how working fathers struggle between work, children, extra curricular and marital life to name a few: “They struggle between the responsibilities of work and the needs of their families. They have demanding jobs and they have children” (Parker 22). Parents want to be involved with their children’s schedules, but the actuality of it is that they have busy lives. Unless
Healy, M. (1999, July 4) Debate Rises on Parents’ Influence Over Children. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved on 03/09/11 from: http://articles.latimes.com/1999/jul/04/news/mn-52878
Whether that is resolving their problems, protecting them from harm, or just trying to solve a stressful situation. In some cases, having a helicopter parent is beneficial to you, but in most cases, it is not. These are parents that will always go to school with you and talk to the principle if something is wrong. But in extreme cases, they are the ones who will invite themselves when you just want to go hang out with friends and then baby you and not let you doing anything exciting. Having a helicopter parent may cause you to have depression, you won’t learn how to stand for your own actions, and you will lack confidence.
If the purpose of parenting is to equip your children to engage in society as a strong and grounded individual, then helicopter parenting represents its direct antithesis. While this current pandemic stemmed from the purest of motives - the desire to protect children from failure or challenges to their self-worth - it represents a fundamentally misguided redistribution of energies. We encourage parents to focus their time on guiding their children through life, protecting them from the outside world instead of building principles in our kids to equip them with the tools to find their
Helicopter parents are hurting their children because the children aren’t prepared for the real world because they didn’t experience it, they are able to manipulate others very effectively, and are more prone to depression and anxiety. Helicopter parents can be seriously impacting their children's
In this day and age, the media labels overbearing parents as helicopter parents, and the label itself has taken on a negative light due to the guilt by association. The ‘popular’ definition of helicopter parenting come from the ‘extreme’ cases (Jayson 5). The extreme cases in the news are just that, extreme cases; they do not depict helicopter parenting in general, and have been given the name Blackhawks (“Liftoff for ‘Helicopter’ Parents”). The idea of helicoptering has become a misguided ‘negative portrait’ by media using the term and ‘over parenting synonymously’, but the two terms should be used so. They are very different; over parenting is when a parent does not let the child think for themselves (Aucoin). Over parenting and helicopter parenting are not synonyms, but they are not quite antonyms. Helicoptering can become oppressive parents quite easily. Another side of over parenting is the side that ‘expects… immediate compliance’ to orders without giving reasoning. This style can cause below average ‘self-esteem… self-reliance and… social skills’ (McDevitt and Ormrod). The regular helicopter parenting is more common than what would be assumed as a study shows ‘60 to 70 percent’ of college parents have ‘some helicoptering behavior...
What is a helicopter parent? Kayla Reed, a doctoral candidate in Marriage and Family Therapy, states that “Helicopter parents are those who are overly involved, they mean everything with good intentions, but it often goes beyond supportive to intervening in the decisions of emerging adults” (“Hovering can Hinder Transition to Adulthood” 11-12). Hovering parents act the way they do because they want their child to prosper in the real-world, but they are actually hurting them (Stahl). Helicopter parenting affects a child’s development and eventually affects them going into their adult life. Helicopter parenting can hinder a child’s development into adulthood, cause children to act rebellious, and prevent the child from being independent and having
Helicopter Parenting is increasing in prevalence due to overprotective parents that refuse to allow their children to fail. Helicopter Parenting has numerous negative impacts on the youth it cultivates, including “neurotic tendencies, dependency on others and ineffective coping skills” (Odenweller, Wagener, Breitkreutz & Hellenbrand, 2014). Helicopter Parenting may benefit Millennials; by providing the support this sheltered generation needs to succeed within the unfamiliar terrain of independence and adulthood that is college. Helicopter Parenting is currently evolving and spreading into other areas of parenting: “Attachment Parenting” (as cited in Simplicio, 2013) advocates a constant physical bond between children and their parents.
Most parents take an interest in their child’s life from birth until they become an adult by picking and choosing what is best for them as much as they possibly can. Parents want to help their children to be as perfect as they can make them. Typically hovering parents spend a lot of money, time, and effort filling schedules things like with dance classes, baseball, and tutoring in order to have a ‘perfect’ child. As well as coming to their aid when they are in need, or their defense when they are in trouble. Help in making important, life changing decisions, like where to go to college at, or which career to pursue. When does helping become hovering? The generation of “Helicopter Parents” is becoming more and more prevalent in families. A helicopter parent is a guardian who is hanging over the head of their college-age son or daughter. Helicopter parents typically do whatever necessary to lead their child to success. This controversy has many suggesting it is actually making a positive impact in the next generation, some think not. I question if the next generation of young people will be able to think for themselves? If so, will the decisions they must make in life be adult decisions? Hovering parents are hurting society more than helping it because the next generation is not learning how to be responsible for their actions and make their own choices.
So they try to help by doing their child’s homework, talking to their kid’s teachers for them, choosing their child’s college major. They insist on knowing the whereabouts of their child at all times to keep them out of trouble. And while they may be helping short-term, they are hurting long-term. Helicopter parenting fails to promote both independence and happiness in children. One important skill for everyone to develop is self-directed executive functioning- which in short is the ability to set and carry out goals for oneself.
These helicopter parents think that they are helping their children get good jobs and live a good rest of their lives but “by their hovering they prevented their children from developing the very traits—courage, nimbleness, outside-the-box thinking—that are required by the new economic order” (Acocella). Since the children are lacking those skills they will have a harder time succeeding in the rest of their life. The parents overparenting is doing the opposite of their intent, considering they are contributing to the possible failure of their kids. On top of that “As the children grow, their parents don’t allow them to try new skills, behaviors or beliefs. Instead, they stick closely to their children as they attempt to shield them from hurt or disappointment” (Hewitt).
Today’s economic situation has created a life where either both parents are forced to work to earn a living or children are residing in a single family home. Television has taken the place of parental guidance and in recent years fewer children have a full time parent at home to guide them. In a recent study, over two-thirds of all three to five-year-old children are cared for by someone other than their parents, compared to a fifth in 1970 (Mintz, 2012) . Parents are stricter with their children and usually act in their best interest; in short no one can care for a child like their parent(s) can. When children are left with babysitters or at daycare centers, television is used as a means to control ...