Most parents only want the best for their children. They want to keep them safe and secure; provide complete academic support; and enroll them in all the right programs to nurture their talents.
But is it possible to overdo it? Have parents become too involved in the minutia of their children’s’ lives—trying to ensure they don’t get hurt physically or emotionally?
It’s the stereotype of the helicopter parent, always hovering nearby. But what happens to a generation of kids if that anecdote becomes the rule?
Lenore Skenazy is a journalist who once earned the title of “world’s worst mother” for doing what had once been perfectly normal: allowing her 9-year-old son to ride the New York subway alone.
That moment of infamy launched her on a nearly 15-year campaign to make it “easy, normal, and legal” for parents to give their kids some independence. She’s the author of “Free-Range Kids” and co-founder of an organization called Let Grow. Most recently, her work is featured in a new documentary “Chasing Childhood” that explores the unintended consequences of overparenting.
Watch the whole episode on Epoch TV.
