Helicopter Parents - Hovering over Their Children

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Figure 4 Adult children are tethered to their parents through cells phones

If parents are always taking care of everything for their child, it’ll be difficult for the child to become self-sufficient. As he/she becomes an adult, they will find it difficult to take care of themselves because they never got a chance to develop problem-solving skills to deal with life’s challenges. “The child may suffer from irrational fears, anxiety and depression, which could lead him to drop out of college or frequently change jobs,” according to Dr. Michele Borba. As the child emerges into adulthood, they do not seem to be quite ready for the real world. University psychologists report today's students experience higher levels of anxiety than any generation before them. And employers are pulling their hair out as these adult children employees show up at work with an unprecedented sense of entitlement - 'Paying your dues' is not part of their vernacular. They require a lot of supervision and they challenge everything from dress code to office hierarchy

Instead of developing a healthy relationship later in life, the adult child may seek a partner that takes care of him or that is very controlling, just like the parents were. This puts a lot of stress on the relationship. The relationship would not be healthy, it would be very controlled. The adult child would not be happy and would never learn valuable lessons even in their adult years. The helicopter parents may even still hover over their child as well. Nagging and judging the relationship between the two partners. Not only does this add to the stress, but it also causes short relationships and not being able to settle down properly. This really limits the adult child from living their life and having the chance to have a proper family.

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Figure 5 Adult children are likely going to choose a spouse that is controlling. Helicopter parents may also become too involved in relationships.

As the victims of helicopter parenting grow older and decide to have children, the chances are very high that they will treat their children the same way. The cycle will repeat and children will become more and more controlled and less knowledgeable. The future generations will find it hard to keep a job or to control their own life. They will always have their parents to get them out of trouble and it causes many, many problems.