Over-protective Parenting
How helicopter parents are ruining kids
Overprotective parents prevent their children from learning how to fail and hurt their futures as adults who are unable to cope with unhappiness.
Children's Perspective
When over-parenting occurs, the child believes that he or she is the center of the universe. They receive special treatment from their parents and never do anything for themselves. They live a happy childhood full of compliments and love, yet become unhappy adults. The real world is a much different place than the safe haven they knew as a child. Now the world does not revolve around them and they are responsible to take care of themselves. This shift is detrimental in their eyes, yet they cannot pinpoint why they are unhappy. It is almost as if they cannot tell the difference between their emotions. Their childhood may have been the happiest time of their life, but if they never experience frustration and sadness they cannot deal with these emotions when they face it in the real world.
Parents' Perspective
Parents always want what is best for their children, and to nearly all, that is a respectable belief. However, some parents are taking it too far and becoming “helicopter parents”. These parents are there whenever they are needed, and swoop in to save their children from any kind of discomfort. This is a good thing in theory, but in practice, it has terrible consequences. These young children that grew up with these “helicopter parents” aren't prepared for what awaits them in the real world. By preaching equality in sports and doing everything for their children, these parents are depriving them of valuable life lessons. These parents are preaching communist theory in a capitalist society.
Effects
Over-protective parenting can have profound effects early on in a child's life. Children with overprotective parents are more likely to develop behavioral issues and lack social skills. Parents believe that their style of parenting will help their children in the long run, but that is not the case. Many college students and adults who were raised under this style of parenting are now reporting that they feel depressed and distant from their parents. They often feel like they don't have the ability to run their own life because their parents always did it for them. People who were raised by helicopter parents are more likely to become self-centered, obnoxious and unemployable as they grow older.
Solutions
The solutions for over parenting all revolve around the general theme of balance. A parent’s job is to provide their child with opportunities, but not be overbearing and obsessed with control. They need to treat their child less as a delicate angel whose every action should be the headline of the New York Times and more as a normal human being. The child should be allowed to experience pain, failure, and struggle because otherwise, they won’t be able to deal with it later in life. The ultimate solution to producing children who are well equipped to handle the world is to let them learn to handle their world as a child.
Works Cited
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