How does a person grow up to be who they are? The manner is in how a person turns out to be, most think it comes from the way they were raised by their parents.The parents that watch over closely every move versus the parents that give their children space to learn on their own have opposite characteristics. This two types of parenting styles are different from one another but the helicopter is known to be the worst for a child behavior patterns.Helicopter parenting is a style that is “ viewed as less and less acceptable to leave kids alone, to give them unstructured time in which to play and explore on their own terms”(Singal).
Helicopter parenting negatively affects a child’s psychological, academic development and makes them unnecessarily dependent. Helicopter parents have a negative effect on a child psychological health. Children that were raised with overprotective/ hovering parents show to have a higher risk of depression, anxiety, lack self-confidence, and have low self-esteem. .Helicopter parents are overly devoted, overly involved in their children’s lives, and overly anxious to smooth the way for them. According to Health Reference Center Academic, everything is done with good intentions by parents but overprotection affects the way they view themselves when it comes to every time and believing that things have been done incorrectly having a negative feeling to cause depression. As these young adults are becoming older and feel like they have no control of their life because they haven’t been able to make a decision and dictate good from bad which leads to depression and low self-esteem.
Dinkelspiel Award winner Stanford University dean of freshman , Julie Lythcott- Haims state in a survey taken in 2013 by the college counseling center director “that 95% of understudies guarantee to have mental issues with developing worries on grounds alongside 70% administration mental issues expanding in the previous years they revealed that 24.5% of understudies needed to have to take prescription drugs to control depression and anxiety.”(Lythcott-Haims). When a child has had everything handled for them they do not know how to handle a tricky situation because they have never been in that position which causes them to stress and over time about everything that leads to anxiety. Harvard Health Publishing stated that it causes a child to have anxiety. “Children can be to get that something will happen to them as their parent have. A study done at Keene State College showed that students whose parents had ‘helicopter’ behavior were at higher risk of depression and anxiety.”(Harvard). Kids that have helicopter parent are not allowed to make mistakes, so they miss out on all sort of learning. Once when making a mistake they feel like they have failed and do not know to handle the feeling.
The expecting people to do what they want when they want which is not a healthy way to approach life. Since it done for them as a child they may feel like that they can’t do anything on their own. This can lead a child to not know who they are or their place and life. Depression anxiety lacking confidence and low self-esteem are all negative effects caused by helicopter parents. Helicopter parents tend to make important decisions for their children instead of allowing them to try it when it comes to academic achievement they partake in a big role. Once it to the point where parents can not do everything anymore a child without an independent outlet. Everything done by the child as an adult will feel that they need their approval of a parent first.This dependency was done the growth as a person. It is worse when a child is sent to college with a new found freedom where they are clueless about what needs to be done and how. It is like trying to teach a kid to skate but the whole time they are being held so they don’t fall, so at the end, the kid never learned to skate on their own with no support. (Jackson) Students that have parents that are overly involved in their academic lives are most likely to experience anxiety and depression.
According to the Health & Wellness Resource Center of New York Times a study was done with 422 children over a span of eight years and getting feedback after the years by a teacher, and the kids themselves. Those children that were controlled by their parent seem to have a less social skill, with more emotional and behavioral regulation cause them not to perform not as well as the other students. Some of the behavioral regulations can be caused in the academic setting because the student may fear to disappoint their parents so they would prefer to satisfy their parent then maintain their health. A child with a helicopter parent is very controlled by their parent in every aspect. The parent of a child can go to decide who can be friends with the child and who they can talk to. The child will agree and miss out on the lesson how to judge a person and what makes them a good friend or the meaning of trust. The medical journal of counseling states that millennials of the generation group have become their parent’s main focus and most are heading to college with having the enable to trust because their independence was stripped from them not being able to relate on anyone but their care provided. (Van Ingen) Without having the ability to explore the world on their own child is left very dependent of a parent.
A child that has helicopter parents will have under developing life skills. Helicopter parents are over controlling the child may not have the chance to develop life skills that are important. Such as effective communication with others this is a direct result of being too dependent on somebody else. A child that has an over controlling parent From the Child Health Nursing Research three center properties of helicopter child rearing were hovering, profoundly profound association, and intermediary basic leadership. The predecessors and results were recovered from three critical areas including social, parent, and tyke perspectives. The child will have been depending on someone to care for them also creating them to be weak minded. Codependent on leadership to be guided.( Yong-Wha Lee) Helicopter parents will try to solve problems for their child. That having the ability to figure things out themselves the child doesn’t develop a healthy sense of identity. Along with the restrictions a parent has on the child’s social life. Which only increases the isolation and loneliness a child feels.
Which can turn into having low self-esteem a child begins today at every decision they make. The lack of self-confidence damages the future because the child doesn’t know who they are. Along with being easily manipulated by other and influenced in the wrong way. The child can struggle to know what is right from wrong. As it turns life goals and career path become not as clear and life become unpleasant. The reason why parents tend to lead to becoming a helicopter parents is that they believe it is a good way to help each other grow changes in the incorrect behavioral way. As a child helicopter parenting works the child is kept safe they may be kept in the right direction and grades will be good. This is disapproved by Karen Fingerman, a professor in the Gerontology and Developmental and Families Studies program states like a child behavior is not impacted by the style of parenting just as an “18-year-old can lash out on their parent they could have done it 100 years ago.” Parents also believe that they are making the life for the child easier, this will backfire on the child how to take responsibility or walk on their own.
By the parent doing this the child is held at a higher standard to not disappoint their parents and do everything in order to please them. Helicopter parents forgot the aspect of an order to learn the child needs to fall and get back up again. Without having the ability to explore the world on their own the child misses out on many lessons and life experiences. Helicopter parenting doesn’t support children it more just makes children uncomfortable. At the end of the story, the parent just wants their child to succeed but there are many ways to fix this problem. Communication and affection can be a way to break down the boundaries that were once set by a parent. Parents should teach their child to be confident but still letting them have some freedom for the individual. Helicopter parents have a negative effect on the child psychological academic development and having them be very dependent. Parent must find a middle ground in between being hands-on and hands off giving that child some comfort room to breathe and be themselves but not smothered. Everything done by helicopter parents is with good intentions these types of parents just wish to see their children succeed. It is just the manner of the parent learning to let go and like child fail but learn from the mistake.
Work Cited
- Harvard Health Publishing. “Helicopter Parenting: When Too Much Help Is No Help.” Harvard Health, Harvard University, July 2015, www.health.harvard.edu/parenting-issues/helicopter-parenting-when-too-much-help-is-no-help.
- ‘Helicopter parenting can be a good thing.’ USA Today, May 2010, p. 8+. Business Collection, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A227652032/GPS?u=fort25402&sid=GPS&xid=f45fe619. Accessed 27 Nov. 2018.
- Lythcott-Haims, Julie. How to Raise an Adult: Break Free of the Overparenting Trap and Prepare Your Kid for Success. Saint Martin’s Griffin, 2016. ‘Risks of Helicopter Parenting.’ NYTimes.com Video Collection, 18 June 2018.
- Health & Wellness Resource Center, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CT544589144/HWRC?u=fort25402&sid=HWRC&xid=6bfe49e4. Accessed 27 Nov. 2018.
- Singal Jesse ,’This Playground Is the Opposite of Helicopter Parenting.’ Science of Us, 2 Sept. 2016. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A462272059/GPS?u=fort25402&sid=GPS&xid=eb5daac0. Accessed 8 Dec. 2018.
- Van Ingen, Daniel J., et al. ‘Helicopter parenting: the effect of an overbearing caregiving style on peer attachment and self-efficacy.’ Journal of College Counseling, Apr. 2015, p. 7+.
- General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A410141105/GPS?u=fort2540 2&sid=GPS&xid=c6fcd6f5. Accessed 20 Nov. 2018. Yong-Wha Lee, et al.
- “An Evolutionary Concept Analysis of Helicopter Parenting.” Child Health Nursing Research, vol. 20, no. 4, Oct. 2014, pp. 237–246. EBSCOhost, doi:10.4094/chnr.2014.20.4.237.
