Helicopter Parenting: All You Need to Know and How it Impacts your Kids

Helicopter parenting is the style of parenting where one is overinvolved in their children’s life giving them no personal space and protecting their kids a little too much from any physical or psychological harm. This leads to enmeshment – a kind of relationship between two or more people where personal boundaries are too diffused and unclear. In this kind of a setup, the child has no independence to explore anything on their own. They are always assisted by their parents even if it doesn’t essentially require another pair of hands. As much as it is reassuring to the parents, it can hinder the productivity of the child to a huge extent.

Examples of helicopter parenting are

1. You prevent your child from exploring.
2. You monitor their homework too much.
3. You do things for your children that don’t need you to do it for them.
4. You impose your ambitions on your children.
5. Drawbacks of helicopter parenting are:
6. Low self-esteem and confidence

When parents do everything for their children, the child doesn’t trust himself/herself to do anything correct independently. They also fear their parents don’t trust them with any situation. This develops a feeling of incapability in them and leads to low self esteem and confidence issues in them.

Sense of entitlement

When parents are always there for the child, he or she might feel that they will always get what they want, making them feel entitled. They become demanding and want all their wishes to always be fulfilled.

Underdevelopment of brain

Helicopter parenting involves parents making all the decisions for you. This leads to a reduction in problem-solving abilities and decision-making too. The prefrontal part of the brain is the area that deals with these situations. This part of the brain fully develops by the age of 25, but kids who have been a part of helicopter parenting see a stunted growth.

Mental Health Deterioration

Helicopter parenting leads to depression and anxiety in children. This happens as a result of being monitored at all times making them extremely nervous if left alone. The struggle free lifestyle as a child creates a fear of failure in the kid. This along with the low self-esteem lead to increased depression and anxiety.

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