What are helicopter parents? They are parents who are always hovering. There is a lot of writing about helicopter parents today. Helicopter parents rarely know who they are when their child usually knows only too well! If you want to know if you are a helicopter parent or if you have helicopter parents, you can take this short quiz.
Parents can be very helpful, but helicopter parents are a detriment to their child. The fine line between supportive parents and helicopter parents is difficult to draw. One way to assess is to ask, are the parents supportive or are they solving their child’s problems and doing it all for him? Parents should be a understanding and should guide their child to independence. They should not be a substitute for their child and should allow their child to make her own decisions.
So what is a parent’s role when it comes to applying for college? Should adult children accept all the help offered by their parents? We feel parents should be involved, but the final decisions and work belong to the child. The worse thing is to end up in a college your parent has chosen and not fit in or to start taking classes for a major your parent has directed you to and not do well. Don’t let your parents write your essays for you, even parts of it. You want your own voice to show through and not let another voice creep in, and never let your mom sign the application where it asks if everything on your application is truthful!
Helicopter parents will fly into your life at college, too. Maybe they should read College Basics’ article on what a parent’s role should be when their child becomes a first-year college student.
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NEWS! CollegeBasics now has a new e-book The Basics for Writing College Application Essays: Simple How-to Steps for Writing All College Essays from the Personal Statement to the Short Activity Essay that outlines every aspect of writing the college application essay. This book explains how to write different kinds of application essays from the short activity essay to the personal statement to scholarship essays and more and offers samples of essays and essay edits. This book can really help you.
