Why Do Helicopter Parents Stir Up Anxiety Depression

This week’s article, “‘Helicopter parents’ stir up anxiety, depression” published by The Trustees of Indiana University discusses a concept with a negative impact extends far beyond the childhood years, farther than I anticipated. Universally described as parents or parental figures that hover and overprotect their children until they are unable to exhibit any form of independence, helicopter parents are filled with pure intentions, even if they are often misguided. They want nothing but the best for their children, and it definitely shows through their actions. Much of my knowledge of these types of parents comes from the media because they aren’t as common in the place in which I grew up. As a result, reading this article was an enlightening
experience. While the writer of the article takes on a clearly negative viewpoint of helicopter parenting, the information is explained in such a way that I found it hard not to agree with. It was fascinating to learn just how deeply and how long the effects of raising a child in this manner can have. It makes sense that the process would decrease a child’s desire to be independent as well as his or her level of self-confidence. After all, having someone constantly at your side to make sure you make decisions that will reap more rewards than consequences is a safe trap that I’m not surprised many children and, later, adolescents fall into. While I’ve never experienced this, part of me feels that I would be more than happy to hand the reigns of my life to a person whose opinion I trust and just sit back and relax while they steer me towards the best possible future. There would be a lot less worry in my life. However, growing up in a culture that doesn’t believe in “babying” a child has always prevented this from happening. I don’t know when I began to act independently and not rely on my parents to assist with circumstances that I could control, but I have always done so. Even now, although I’m not as independent as I would like, I know that I can trust myself to make my own decisions. Of course, I am always afraid to fall and hurt myself, but I know that I am capable of picking myself up again. All this I have learned from my parents, so it is hard for me to imagine a world in which I am the opposite of who I’ve become over the years. On the opposing side, one aspect of the article that I disagreed with was that having helicopter parents, or at least some portion of their behavioral patterns, was an entirely negative situation.
As I mentioned previously, I grew up in a culture that abhorred the thought of “babying” their offspring, an activity that most helicopter parents willfully partake in. Most Bermudian fathers even seem bothered by offering their sons any semblance of comfort when they’re upset. So the vast majority of adolescents that I have met over the years after probably some of the most confident and self-assured people I’ve ever known. They have no problem making their own decisions, even though some result in terrible consequences that no one ever seems to learn from. We’re like baby birds that have been pushed out the nest far sooner than we were ready for and although we can fly in some way, we never again learn to rely on others around us. We often become “adults” earlier on in life, leaving college as a pointless experience because we already have everything figured out. Our lives can become filled with deep regrets at not having enjoyed our childhoods a little more thoroughly. Perhaps, rather than helicopter parenting and hardly parenting at all, children and adolescents alike need something in between that can produce a self-sufficient generation that’s wiser and less regretful. Overall, I thought that the article “‘Helicopter parents’ stir up anxiety, depression” offered a new perspective on an issue I was unaware of. I can conclude that there are some aspects of helicopter parenting that should be frowned upon, especially if it impacts children for the rest of their lives. It is a style of parenting that has nothing the best in mind for those that are raised under it, so one can at least appreciation that
much.