The truth behind helicopter parenting

31 Oct 2018

Have you ever heard of the term ‘helicopter parenting’?

Bored Teachers has decided to zoom in on the concept, exploring its relevance to today’s education sector for our better understanding.

A new animated series from The Atlantic pictures helicopter parenting as an intense relationship between parent and child.

Instead of allowing their children to grow into independent, driven individuals, helicopter parents are constantly watching over their young spawn and holding their hand through the important stages of development.

As The Atlantic shows below, helicopter parenting may be a barrier to the growth of a balanced and healthy mindset.

As the video shows, without their parents’ constant shadow, students are much better at completing tasks on their own as well as dealing with failure, gaining the confidence to get up and try again.

If your parents smother you with (well-intended) support and you go to school where your professor does pretty much the same, you may start to feel cushioned in by excessive amounts of attention.

Or, perhaps you are said parent or professor, spoiling and ultimately repressing your child or student with suffocating love.

As we all know, the priority of a good teacher is to look after students and help them reach their full potential.

What it’s all about! pic.twitter.com/DjLdn42mDM

— Bored Teachers (@Bored_Teachers) October 22, 2018

But what happens if a parent can’t let go of that responsibility and starts to dismiss the school’s teaching style – surely this is detrimental for a student’s future success?

Is it fair that helicopter parents are free to constantly fly around their child’s shoulders or should parents take a step back, letting them develop, independently and naturally, with the guidance of experienced professors and tutors?