Helicopter Parenting

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“It’s a bad day if I don’t talk to my mom at least 10 times – she’s my backbone,” says 20-year-old Katie, a junior in college in Gainesville, Florida (Khidekel). Unfortunately, this type of codependency is extremely common in young adults who have helicopter parents. Helicopter parenting, also known as over-parenting, is when parents constantly “hover” over their children by invading their privacy and not letting them solve their own problems. Helicopter parents are especially involved in their child’s school work, often times doing most of the work for their children and disputing grades with teachers, even as their children move on to college. Beginning to become more common in the ‘60s and ‘70s, helicopter parenting is a result of adults having fewer children, marrying and reproducing later in life, and both parents working long hours. New technology has also stimulated the growth in the number of helicopter parents by making it easier for parents to track their children and check to see who they have been talking to and what they have been doing. Today, over 90% of school counsellors and psychologists are seeing overly attached parents in their schools (Marriner). Although some children do not mind and in fact welcome and encourage their overly attached parents, helicopter parenting can lead to several major devastating consequences. While most helicopter parents believe they are doing what is best for their child, they actually tend to do more harm than good by causing damaging psychological effects on children, hindering their child’s mental growth, and even placing unnecessary stress on their own lives.

One of the major and most dangerous effects of a child having one or more helicopter parent are the psychological conseq...

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...y communication will improve. Another positive aspect of parents letting children make their own decisions is that children tend to be happier, self-sufficient, and much more confident than those that grow up with helicopter parents.

Works Cited

Donatone, Brooke. "Helicopter Parenting Comes Home to Roost." Winnipeg Free Press (MB), 08281785, Dec 08, 2013.

"How Helicopter Parents Affect Their Children." Everyday Life. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Jan. 2014.

Khidekel, Marina. "Are Your Parents Ruining Your Life?". Cosmo Girl, 15284824, Nov2008, Vol. 10, Issue 9.

Marriner, Cosima. "The So-called 'Helicopter' Parent Is Becoming Ubiquit." Bayside Bulletin, Mar 19, 2013.

Nelson, Margaret K. "Helicopter Parenting Style Leaves Little Time For Other Things." Guelph Mercury (ON), Jul 06, 2010.

"UANews." The Dangers of 'Overparenting' N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Jan. 2014.

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