"Parenting is hard. Children of all ages run into problems and challenges around every turn. Whether their kids are struggling with a hula hoop or a driver's test, parents have to decide when to step in and help, and when to let their child struggle toward their own solution. It's not always clear or intuitive how to respond. It's fairly easy for caring and well-meaning parents to become overly involved or even controlling of their child, beyond what is developmentally appropriate."
"This phenomenon, known as overparenting, is very similar to the idea of a helicopter parent. Parents may take an overactive role in decision-making or solve problems unnecessarily on behalf of their child. They do this out of a sense of protectiveness, wanting to shield their child from the possibility of harm, challenges, or failure. What does overparenting look like? Helping with decision-making and protecting a child from harm are essential parts of parenting."
Parenting is hard. Parents must decide when to step in and when to allow a child to struggle toward their own solutions. Overparenting is parental overinvolvement when children could be independent and often reflects parental anxieties. Overparenting resembles helicopter parenting and can involve unnecessary decision-making or solving problems on a child's behalf to shield them from harm, challenges, or failure. Determining appropriate help is difficult because needs change with age and individual development. Short-term consequences include reduced parent anxiety and increased closeness. Long-term consequences can include impaired autonomy and developmental problems. Age-specific boundaries, such as escorting kindergarteners but not high-schoolers, matter.
Read at Psychology Today
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