Helicopter Parent

“Nobody’s a natural. You work hard to get good and then work to get better. It’s hard to stay on top.”
-Paul Coffey

Helicopter Parenting has gotten a lot of attention these past few years. The term was initially coined to describe parents of children in higher education that hovered over them, checked on diets, called their professors and even helped write their term papers.

The term Helicopter Parenting now includes parents who micromanage every aspect of their children’s lives. They script play dates, resolve peer disputes and cut their food. The children of Helicopter Parents generally are not allowed to feel the affects of failure. Helicopter Parents are the ones who put their kids on the softball teams where you swing until you hit and you get a two-foot trophy just for showing up.

As a result of the love and concern they have for their children, Helicopter Parents tend to praise excessively and assume their children cannot manage without them. Often they excuse their children’s bad behavior and fix their mistakes for them. The children tend to rely on their parents for motivation and praise, instead of patting themselves on their own backs and being self-motivated.


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