Point/Counterpoint: Helicopter Parenting

Point

Helicopter Parenting is Ruining Our Children

by Jessica Champlain

Child Psychologist

Tampa, FL

Are we raising a generation of perpetual children that will be ill-prepared for life as an adult? I believe that we are. The current crop of twenty-somethings stands out as clear evidence of this growing problem.

Psychologists like me are seeing significant increases in the diagnosis of depression and anxiety conditions in older adolescents and young adults in their twenties. We see more adults living with parents and continuing to rely on their financial and emotional assistance. There are even reports of men and women in their third decade bringing their parents with them to job interviews. Enough!

One of the most important roles that a parent plays is to serve as a guide for children. Yes, parents are often called upon to step in and help their child to navigate difficult situations, but parents must also model problem solving skills and, perhaps most importantly, demonstrate how to cope with adversity. The current generation of children is sorely lacking in this ability. Stress plus poor resiliency often leads to a variety of psychological and even physical manifestations.

My advice to parents? It's okay to pay attention to your child's experiences and problems, but you have to remember that they are their experiences and their problems. You can't take the wheel every single time there is a fork in the road and the correct route is uncertain. Children need to take the wrong path every now and then in order to learn how to get back on track. Be there for support but don't serve as a crutch.

Counterpoint

Give Unto Me Your Children That I May Consume Them

by Krampus

Child Behavior Expert

Chthonic Netherworld/Austria

For millennia, I have toiled. In darkness, I dwell. In nightmares, I thrive. Give unto me your children that I may consume them. Their flesh, my desire. My birthright as the Krampus is eternal and unyielding.

I crave most the child who respects not their life givers. Their fear, when first the bells of Krampus sound outside their dwelling, warms even the cockles of my blackened heart. As they soil their breeches, I beat upon them with branches of birch and bind them in chains of cold iron.

My chiropractor, concerned for subluxations, gives warning to avoid fat children and to lift with my legs. My sack, once full of naughty human fledglings, I carry to my lair. My belly, once full of tender young flesh, finally ceases its incessant rumbling. But my hunger will not be long satiated. Return to this realm I will, in a year's time.