Helicopter Parents; They are the tireless parents who do not leave the child’s head, who are a fan around him, who try to keep up with everything, who interfere with the child’s life and personality. These parents come from educated middle-class families and have very high academic expectations from the child.
In recent years, this term has been mentioned a lot and it is considered as a psychological and sociological problem. Helicopter Parents are very common in Turkey.
Helicopter parents are defined as parents who do not leave their children, have a propeller around them, try to keep up with everything, interfere with their lives and personalities, and are tireless.
Today, “helicopter families” appear as families who follow their children’s education, social and private lives very closely, undertake the responsibilities of their children with great enthusiasm, and are happy to solve every problem on their behalf.
“Helicopter parents” do their children’s homework and projects. Although helicopter families try to help with good intentions, they actually give the message that their children are inadequate and that they cannot fulfill their responsibilities, and for all these reasons, they help their children.
Helicopter parents see the development of their children’s individuality as a threat to themselves and do their best to make them dependent on them. Because they see it as a threat for their children to become independent, self-sufficient individuals, they hinder their efforts for change and development and force them to be dependent on themselves. Of course, this not only causes the child to be self-sufficient, worthless and unreliable, but also negatively affects their identity development
There are some typical characteristics of children who grow up in an extremist environment, whose every problem is solved by their parents, who cannot make their own decisions, that is, who grow up with helicopter parents. features are displayed. We can list them as follows
Having an inflated ego
Low self-esteem and sense of competence
Suppressed personality
Lacking common sense
Difficulty making decisions
Problem solving skills underdeveloped
low willingness to do and strive
Have very strong family ties and depend on the family
These are only the most prominent features of these children, this list can be increased. Because being an overprotective parent is an approach that interferes with the normal development of the child. Therefore, it will not be normal in the child. He will be an adult who lacks many skills, is prone to experiencing psychological problems, and experiences problems and failures in his professional and private life.
Helicopter parents should not forget that. They cannot be with their children forever. The fact that their children live dependent and dependent on them is actually a great evil that they do to their children. The child who grows up in this way can never become independent, cannot solve his own problems, always blames others for the problems he encounters and looks for easy ways out.
When we think that the children of today are the adults of the future, it is actually a very big mistake for the future to raise children in this way. Children who grow up with helicopter parents will not always be children, many processes such as adolescence, adulthood, business life, marriage are waiting for them.
Leaving children independent and contributing to the development of problem-solving skills is an important step for their development…
