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February 2016 | Read this issue and more at www.healthandwellnessmagazine.net |
PARENTING FOR WELLNESS
Helicopter Parenting
The negative effects of caring too much
By Sarah Brokamp,
Staff Writer
The world is a big, uncertain place,
and the idea of sending your child
into it alone can seem unfathomable.
Parents like the idea of their children
never being hurt, encased in a safe place
of the parents’ own making, free from
any treachery. However, this magical
bubble is neither realistic nor beneficial.
Placing barriers around your child is
dangerous, even if you think it’s only
cautionary. Every parent should draw
lines to protect their child, but it is
important to strive for the comfortable
middle ground between being suffocating and being neglectful.
A good example of a parent who
is “helicoptering” is a mother/father
who demands to read their child’s
texts or who does not allow the child
to make phone calls without the
parent listening in. Most of the time
parents do these sorts of things out
of fear. They want the child to have
good influences, so they feel they
need to check every person the child
comes in contact with before allowing the child to befriend them. It is
okay to be wary of other people in
your