Helicopter Parents

The term helicopter parents became popular in both media and institutions of higher education in the early 2000s, even though it was coined in 1990 by Foster W. Cline and Jim Fay in their book, Parenting With Love and Logic: Teaching Children Responsibility. Indeed, Cline and Fay were the first to suggest that “some parents think that love means rotating their lives around their children. They are helicopter parents. They hover over and rescue their children whenever trouble arises.” As a result, the term helicopter parents is a metaphor for parents who “hover” over their children, constantly micromanaging their children's lives, making decisions for their children, and/or trying to prevent any failures or mistakes by their children.

Although the term is applied to parents of all children, it is used most often in the context of parents of college-age children who plan their children's class schedules, manage their children's dorm lives, and/or even help write their children's papers. Many people see technology as a key factor in the development of helicopter parenting because parents can stay in constant contact with their children via cell phones, e-mail, and instant messaging. In response to helicopter parents’ demand for “two-way” communication between themselves and the schools they send their children to, many colleges and universities have expanded their parent programs, increased the number of parent liaisons, and now have “parent-only” talks or orientation sessions designed to encourage parents to separate from and allow their children to make their own decisions.

While many experts and educators perceive helicopter parenting as problematic because children are too dependent on their parents, some believe that helicopter parenting may benefit children because children report that they feel closer and more connected to their parents than previous generations.