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Are you a 'helicopter' parent?

Last updated on: September 25, 2017 10:38 IST

You may be damaging your kid with overprotectiveness and pampering.

Parenting

You may be damaging your kid's behavior with your overprotective or pampering nature, warns a study.

According to experts, 'Mollycoddling' and 'helicopter' parenting may leave primary school children poorly behaved and ill-prepared for real life, reported the Independent.

Dr Amanda Gummer, a research psychologist specialising in child development, said, 'Wild, unruly children are increasingly likely to be the progeny of so-called "helicopter" parents.'

'They are ruthlessly ambitious for their child's future -- failing to realise how badly their mollycoddling is preparing them for the compromises of real life,' she stated.

The team explained that a hovering parenting style can create children unable to make decisions or exhibit independence.

The children of helicopter parents -- often middle-class, professional and, to their minds, devoted to their darlings -- can also be particularly aggressive and difficult at school.

 

Previous research suggested that parents who exert too much control over their children could be causing them psychological damage later on in life.

A 2015 study by University College London tracking more than 5,000 people since birth, found people whose parents had intruded on their privacy in some way, or encouraged dependence were much more likely to be unhappy in their teens, 30s, 40s and later on in life.

They also found that many of these children never heard the word 'no' levelled at them at home.

Middle-class parents are damaging their children by not being able to say 'no', Gummer warned.

Lead pic used for representational purpose only. Kind courtesy Shahid Kapoor/Instagram

Rediff Get Ahead Bureau
Source: ANI