What defines a helicopter parent?

[ComradesTrue]

Shocker. All those heli-moms with Special Snowflakes are now showing up in the workplace:

Helicopter Parents Hover in the Workplace: NPR

This is just unbelievable to me. These poor kids are not getting the opportunity to grow, develop, and learn to initiate and make critical decisions for themselves. Now they are college graduates and they have not developed the most basic of skills needed to survive in the workplace and independently.

Parents: you are doing much more harm than good. Seriously. My kid wanted a prize for a fundraiser (Jump Rope for Heart) that his school is doing. He asked me to write a check in the amount needed- $125- to get the prize. I told him no way. If he wanted the prize, he would need to call relatives and some close family friends and describe the fundraising activity, where the money was going, and politely ask if they would consider a donation. I didn't even dial the phone for him. Guess what? With the neighbors $5 donation today he stands at $126 and not one penny is mine. And oh, yeah. He is 5.

Learning to navigate life, life that may even include occasional failure, is the best gift that you can give a child.

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by Blondie93

Shocker. All those heli-moms with Special Snowflakes are now showing up in the workplace:

Helicopter Parents Hover in the Workplace: NPR

This is just unbelievable to me. These poor kids are not getting the opportunity to grow, develop, and learn to initiate and make critical decisions for themselves. Now they are college graduates and they have not developed the most basic of skills needed to survive in the workplace and independently.

That's CRAZY.

My mom has never even known the NUMBER to my workplace or my supervisor's name to call them (at least not since I was 16 and sans cell phone.)

[psusue]

I think this is my biggest problem with helicopter parenting-- where does it end? My mom has always taught me to fight my own battles. Even when I had an extremely unfair supervisor in on of my jobs she let me handle it. She offered (mostly out of anger) to help when the woman basically succeeded in removing me (not firing, I left in good standing) but I would have never let her. I'm an adult and fair or not it's your life. I understand that every parent wants to spare their child unnecessary pain but the world is harsh and you can't protect them forever. Teach them to pick themselves up from those realities and that is what will do them a favor, because failure is inevitable.