“But we only mean well!” Such nuggets of parental wisdom are increasingly becoming a curse for children. “Helicopter parents,” so-called because they incessantly hover over their child, obsessively monitoring and controlling everything in his or her environment, are intent on shaping their precious ones into a complete work of art.
Over-identification, overprotection and over-gratification are becoming ever more pressing issues; we seem to have lost our sense of social equilibrium. A complete absence of care and attention on the one hand is outweighed by an overabundance of it on the other. Caring parents have allowed themselves to be persuaded by supposedly competent professionals that they are to take complete control of their children‘s future.
However, one crucial fact is being overlooked. The fixation on the future threatens to deprive children of their childhood. The cutting of parental ties, a vital step in the process of children achieving self-fulfilment and shaping their own identity becomes more difficult, if not impossible, due to an overdeveloped sense of mutual dependence.
Josef Kraus analyses the issues in an incisive and pointed manner and ultimately points out solutions to the dilemmas surrounding upbringing and education.
