During a recent trip to the USA, whilst watching a current affairs television programme, I encountered an expression I’d never heard before. The expression was “Helicopter Parents” and it refers to parents who “hover” over their children and control their lives. I soon learned that it isn’t a complimentary term.

According to a child psychologist, helicopter parents typically micro-manage all aspects of their children’s lives. They control their relationships with adults (for example teachers, sports and group leaders and neighbours) without allowing the child to express him or herself individually and personally.

Such parents refer to their child’s activities in the first person plural by saying things like “we are going for a football trial today”, “we are going to a swimming party” or “we are going to cub camp this summer”. They usually do their child’s homework and refer to it as “our homework”.

I must admit that I, for one, have never seen the sense of parents doing their offspring’s homework for them (as opposed to providing requested advice) since how will children learn if they aren’t allowed to think things through and learn from their own mistakes? Are the parents going to sit their exams for them? Are they going to accompany them to their first job interview? How on earth are children going to manage in the world when everything has been done for them and they are not required to think for themselves?

It was hard to disagree with the conclusion that parents living their own lives vicariously through their children are doing them no favours at all and in fact quite the opposite. Ultimately, the child (unless a member of the aristocracy or maintained by Daddy for  life) is going to sink or swim as a result of his own efforts, not those of his “Helicopter Parents”.