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As termed from an encyclopedia article on parenting, helicopter parenting is an expression used in the media to express contempt or disapproval of parents. Helicopter parents simply watch over, or hover over their children and lead them from a better view to give advice. Helicopter parenting is not what it is depicted as; it is a style of parenting that creates a bond between parent and child that in most cases is beneficial in economic, social, and academic aspects of the child’s life. 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... ... middle of paper ... ...7 Sept. 2010: 67. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 19 Jan. 2014. Jayson, Sharon. "'Helicopter' Parents Appear to Defy Socioeconomic Pegging." USA Today 4 Apr. 2007: 5. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 13 Dec. 2013. "Liftoff for 'Helicopter' Parents." Christian Science Monitor 03 May 2007: 8. MAS Ultra - School Edition. Web. 11 Dec. 2013. McDevitt, T. M., and J. E. Ormrod. "Parenting Styles." Child Development and Education. 3rd ed. N.p.: Prentice Hall, 2006. 159-161. Education.com. Merill, 2007. Web. 27 Dec. 2013. . Rosen, Christine. "The Parents Who Don't Want To Be Adults." Commentary 127.7 (2009): 31. MAS Ultra - School Edition. Web. 13 Dec. 2013. "The Task of Parenting - Helicopter Parents [editorial]." Africa News Service 15 July 2008. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 13 Dec. 2013.
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 Can Be a Good Thing." USA Today Magazine May 2010: 8-9. Points of View Reference Center. Web. 11 Nov. 2013.
Julie Lythcott-Haims’ article from Slate.com, “Kids of Helicopter Parents Are Sputtering Out,” is a recent article published on July 5 2015. Lythcott-Haims discusses the issues of mental health involving college students. Specifically, she is discussing the possible correlation of strict parental guidance—Helicopter or hovering parents--possibly affecting student’s life skills once they are on their own.
Some of these parents are especially needy emotionally and they begin to ‘hover’ over their children in a way to fill that need. Helicopter parents spend majority of their time protecting and preventing children from making mistakes while other aspects of their lives is not covered. Marriages suffer because they is no time spent together as a couple and other children may also suffer jealousy and neglect due to hovering parenting. Social life crumble because parents are not spending time participating in activities outside of their normal life and routine.
Helicopter parenting is a phenomenon that has taken the United States by storm! This style of parenting raises children to be dependent on their parents well into their mature years. Julia Lynthcott- Haims explains the four main factors that are responsible for this shift in parenting and childhood in the excerpt “The Four Cultural Shifts that Led to the Rise of the Helicopter Parent” in her book How to Raise an Adult. The “shifts” Haims proposes are juxtaposed with examples of how parenting has evolved to convey how the childrearing has transformed. The author attributes the helicopter phenomenon to four events that began in 1980s: child abductions becoming publicized, the idea that children were not doing enough schoolwork,
Beyond genetics, parents have an extremely significant impact on the emotional, moral, and social development of their children. This is understandable, as many children interact solely with their parents until they reach school-age. Parents have the ability to determine a child’s temperament, their social abilities, how well-behaved or in control of their emotions they are, how mature and ambitious the child will be, and so forth. (Sharpe) Furthermore, parents have both ideals for their children as well as ideals for themselves, and how they raise their children is deeply influenced by this.
This style may make become difficult for the child in the future and hinder their ability to become independent. These parents pay very close attention to what their child or children do and are going through, especially with their education. Because of this, it may end up giving the child problems in their adult life. In the article “‘Helicopter Parenting’ Hurts Kids Regardless of Love or Support, Study Says.” it states, “it also suggested that lack of warmth can take the situation from bad to worse, amplifying low self-esteem and high-risk behaviors such as binge drinking.”. As well as “including such over-involved habits such as solving children’s problems and making important decisions for them, while warmth was measured in terms of availability to talk and spending quality time.” Unlike authoritative parenting this parenting leaves no space for the child to grow and explore. Helicopter parents are constantly hovering over their children causing them to become dependent on the parent. Helicopter parents stop their children for learning essential skills in order to gain independence for their adult life. Unlike authoritative parenting, helicopter parenting is unequal in the balance between control the parent has and freedom the child is allowed to have. Over-controlling their children instead of finding a balance is the reason why this parenting style is not the most effective or best
A parent’s parenting styles are as diverse as the world we live in today. Nowadays, parents only want what is best for their children and their parenting styles plays a crucial role in the development of children which will in the long run, not only effect the child’s childhood years, but later prolong into their adult life as well.
---. “Are Helicopter Parents Entering the No Fly Zone?- Final Draft.” UTSA: WRC 1023, 10 Feb 2014. Print.
Growing up, two group of people, parents, and grandparents, took the time and the energy to raise me. Both of them had different approaches when raising me. These approaches were different parenting styles. According to Baumrind, parenting style was the “[capturing] normal variations in parents’ attempts to control and socialize their children” (Darling, 1999). To put it simply, parenting style goal was to lecture, influence, and discipline a child. In general, there are four parenting styles with their own specific benefits and disadvantages. Furthermore, parenting style, granted the dynamic of the family was understood, can be identified in families.
I noticed that most people who were in opposition of helicopter parenting were not concerned about raising children of their own. They mainly opposed this parenting style, so they could use it as a scape goat for the problems they felt today’s youth were exhibiting. Removing this mindset, I had to experience each side of the argument as if I were a parent in favor of that belief. All upstanding parents really want what they believe to be best for their children. If they have strong feelings about a certain philosophy of child rearing, then they must believe it is truly favorable.
Powell, Bill. "Meet The Parents." Newsweek Global 169, no. 7, September 2017, 16-23. MasterFILE Elite, EBSCOhost (accessed December 2, 2017). http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.proxy.kennesaw.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&sid=62e2d339-8ec2-493a-adf2-5e2a20b75989%40sessionmgr101
noble, kenneth. "THE NATION; PRO & CON: HOW MUCH GOVERNMENT SHOULD DO FOR PARENTS." New York Times 1 may 1988, Print.
Parenting styles have the capacity of influencing a child’s social, cognitive, and psychological growth, which would then affect the child both in their childhood years, and as an adult.
Do you ever think that your parents are all around you and getting a lot involved in your life? Do your parents help you in every single problem? If this is all true, then you are going through helicopter parenting. Helicopter parents are the parents who monitor every aspect of their child’s life. The term roots back its origins in the book “Between Parent and Teenager” by Haim G. Ginott. It was published in the year 1969. It was found in this quote saying “Mother hovers over me like a helicopter and I am fed up with her noise and hot air. I am entitled to sneeze without explanation.” The term became part of the vernacular after formal school principal Jim Fay and psychiatrist Foster W. Cline deployed it in their 1990 book “Parenting with Love and Logic” (Real Simple, 2014).