How helicopter parenting affects your child's emotional development
Parents are instinctively designed to be protective about children. While the involvement of a father and mother is essential for a child’s overall development, sometimes parents go a bit too far. They tend to hover over their child’s life, a phenomenon known as helicopter parenting. This may lead to a strained parent-child relationship while making kids dependent on parents in an unhealthy manner. They fail to deal with negative emotions independently and take major decisions and responsibility of their own actions.
What is helicopter parenting?
The term ‘helicopter parenting’ refers to parents’ tendency to hover over their children’s shoulder like a helicopter. This approach to parenting is characterised by hyper-involvement in a child’s life. A helicopter parent experiences a lot of anxiety and fear about her child’s future. So, little things like a low grade in a test, failing to get the role her kid wants in a school play, etc. can set off disproportionate worries in their minds. All these combine together and make parents over controlling and overprotective. Excessive attention to and involvement in the lives of children in order to prevent any harm, physical or psychological, leads to the diffusion of personal boundary.
4 ways helicopter parenting impacts kids
This type of parenting has long-term consequences for the children. The strategy of never allowing children to make mistakes can have a major backlash on them.
Develops maladaptive perfectionism: Having parents constantly looking over their shoulders and dealing with high expectations regarding academic and co-curricular performances make kids excessively self-critical. They are afraid of making and blame themselves for not delivering perfect results. This is termed as “maladaptive perfectionism”. It causes children to have low confidence levels and a deflated self-esteem which greatly affects their mental health and productivity.
Gives rise to anxiety and other mental health problems: Teenagers who are raised by helicopter parents are prone to developing separation anxiety, depression and panic attacks. They get used to constant guidance and input. So, when left alone, they are unable to make independent decisions.
Fosters a sense of entitlement: Over-indulgence by parents makes children accustomed to having all their needs instantly fulfilled. So, when they are in a situation where they can’t have things their way, they become demanding and overbearing without caring about the comfort and wishes of others.
Coping mechanisms are compromised: Children fail to develop emotional self-regulatory mechanisms when the entire control in their lives is taken over by parents. They can’t face challenges independently and become emotionally over-reliant on their parents. They are unable to sift through their emotions and problems and come up with solutions.