Lawnmower Parents Helicopter Parents.

Lawnmower Parents Helicopter Parents.  By: WeAreTeachers Staff



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Lawnmower parents go to whatever lengths necessary to prevent their child from having to face adversity, struggle, or failure.

Instead of preparing children for challenges, they mow obstacles down so kids won’t experience them in the first place. But in raising children who have experienced minimal struggle, we are not creating a happier generation of kids. We are creating a generation that has no what idea what to do when they actually encounter struggle. A generation who panics or shuts down at the mere idea of failure. A generation for whom failure is far too painful, leaving them with coping mechanisms like addiction, blame, and internalization. The list goes on.

If we eliminate all struggle in children’s younger years, they will not arrive at adulthood magically equipped to deal with failure.

Indeed, childhood is when they learn these skills.
A child who has never had to deal with conflict on their own will not approach the first test they bomb in college and say, “Yikes. I really need to study harder. I’ll reach out to the graduate assistant and see if they know of study groups I can join or other materials I can read to do better on the next one.” Instead, they will very likely respond in one or more of the following ways:

• Blame the professor
• Call home and beg their parents to intervene 
• Have a mental breakdown or make themselves miserable
• Write nasty reviews online about the professor and their class
• Begin planning for the inevitable destruction of their college career/future
• Assume they failed because they’re stupid
• Collapse in on themselves and give up completely and stop trying
  
  
  
  
  --WeAreTeachers Staff
  
  

What kind of parent are you

For each item, indicate how much you agree or disagree with the statement. This takes most people about 4 minutes to complete. Take your time and answer truthfully for the most accurate results. (If both parents are available, they should both take the quiz and then compare their parenting styles.)

A helicopter parent, is a parent who pays not close attention, but EXTREMELY close attention, to a child's or children's experiences and problems, particularly at educational institutions. Helicopter parents are so named because, like helicopters, they "hover overhead", overseeing every aspect of their child's life constantly.

Lawnmower parent

These parents are called lawnmower parents because they "mow down" a path for their children removing all obstacles that may cause discomfort, challenges or struggles. This parent not only thinks they help their child but probably does a lot of the work for the child or at least checks to make sure that everything is correct. The child will never learn mistakes or responsibility.

Tiger parent

The tiger parent is known for putting excellence in academics and carefully chosen extracurriculars above leisure time. Parents are authoritarian and have high expectations in school. This is tough-love parenting where children are expected to respond to challenges.   

Elephant parent

As close to opposite of tiger parenting as possible. These parents value emotional security and connection. Independent sleeping may not occur during the 0-5 years. These parents seek not to raise their voices and value encouragement over academic or athletic success. 

Dolphin parent

Shimi Kang writes in "The Dolphin Way: A Parent’s Guide to Raising Happy, Healthy,and Motivated Kids Without Turning Into A Tiger" that these parents seek collaboration, flexibility and balance. This parenting is further defined by the acronym POD. P for play and exploration, O for others and D for downtime, which includes rest, exercise and sleep.

Attachment parent

Attachment parents desire close contact between baby and caregiver through baby wearing, breastfeeding and co-sleeping. These parents use natural closeness rather than the clock to determine their babies' needs. Parents also emphasize role modeling and positive discipline by using praise and rewards for good behavior and loss of privileges for poor behavior.

Free-range parent

These parents allow their kids to walk to school or a nearby playground alone. Young children may be allowed to ride public transportation or shop alone. Free-range parents believe this freedom promotes independence and self-reliance.

-Parenting Class Teacher