Children Behavior Charts: Helicopter

Helicopter parenting is a term that describes those parents who tend to be over-involved in the lives of their children. They swoop down and hover close by to help with whatever trouble they sense. Helicopter parenting has spawned more recent terms of snowplow parents and lawn mower parents. Apart from hovering, such parents also plow away or mow down any obstacles in the teenager or child’s path. They tend to continue with this behavior from afar, even when children are all grown and in university. One of the main huddle with such parenting is that the kid doesn’t get a chance to learn how to walk independently in the world without support from parents. This then leads to negative mental and emotional health repercussions. Helicopter parenting on teens and children has a positive impact. Such parents have caring and close relationships with their children, which is a good thing. It makes it possible for the parents to shower their children with support and warm parental behaviors that includes emotional support, ongoing communication, and openness between children and their parents. As much as there is a lot of positivity in this kind of parenting, it has its negative side too. Some studies show that students who have experienced helicopter parenting had some of the poorest scores when it comes to psychological well-being. They are also more likely as compared to other children to tend to over-rely on prescription medications for depression and anxiety.