Helicopter parents, an overprotective parent that takes an interest in their child’s life, want to protect their children from harm, bad experiences and disappointments. However, one of the greatest drawbacks of the overprotective parenting style is an under prepared child. As these children grow into adults, they may become manipulative and materialistic due to the reward and punishment system that they experienced when they were children. Sometimes, overprotective parents do not want to listen to the teenagers side of the story; they make decisions based on only their thoughts, which could lead to someone being reliant on their parents as they grow older.
“Having overprotective parents is like a blessing and a curse,” freshman Syerra Gilmore said. “If I were to ‘break’ a rule, I know somehow, some way they will always find out. It always puts me into an uncomfortable situation because I feel as if they don’t really try to understand the whole story, they just see the bold letters on the page, and not the fine print. It is like always having someone watching over you, but not in a good way necessarily.”
When parents are over protective, their children may resent them for not allowing them to do things that their friends can do. The teenagers may always have the thought of ‘what if my parents do not approve’ in the back of their mind. Even though parents love their children and want to do what is best for them, being too protective can mean that their children might miss out on being a teenager.
“The worst part about having overprotective parents is the stress that comes with not wanting to disappoint them,” senior Jerianne Bonaguidi said. “I am always scared that I will do something wrong or forget to communicate and they will be mad at me.”
Teenagers that are allowed more freedom from their parents are allowed to do many things that teenagers with overprotective parents cannot such as going out on the weekends, or coming home at a late time. Although, many parents that are not as protective need to know that they have trust within their child, so that they know they are always safe.
“I think my parents realized that I am capable of making the correct choices,” sophomore Brock Jurinek said. “My parents trust me after having my freedom for awhile now. If they did not trust me, they would be way stricter.”
Overprotective parents may love their children very much, but by being too overprotective, they can cause their children to be less self reliant in the future. Being a helicopter parent can not only affect their children’s life during parenting, but into their adulthood.
