Understanding The Helicopter Parent Phenomenon: A New Book for Educational Consultants Working with Parents and Their College Going Children
by Emily Snyder, IECA (Virginia)
Yesterday’s edition of Inside Higher Ed has a very interesting question and answer session with Margaret K. Nelson, A. Barton Hepburn Professor of Sociology at Middlebury College, and the author of a new book, Parenting Out of Control: Anxious Parents in Uncertain Times (New York University Press). Nelson takes the philosophy behind the late Bill Strauss’s and Nathaniel Howe’s defining ‘helicopter parent’ trend one step further; she discusses the impact of a number of factors, including U.S. News & World Report’s college rankings, the changing communication styles between parents and their children, and differing socio-economic factors, on the heightened sense of competition in the college admissions process. Specific to our work as consultants, Nelson discusses and responds to questions on whether parents have become too involved in the process of selecting and applying to colleges, addresses the difficulties in defining one ‘appropriate’ level of involvement, and of most interest to me, responds to the question: “How does the (perceived) increased in the difficulty of getting into college (particularly at an elite institution) impact parenting styles?”
For anyone looking to understand the psychology behind the ‘helicopter parent’ phenomenon, I suspect her book will be well read. As a consultant who helps students and families navigate the college admissions process, this book has just moved to the top of my summer reading list.
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A timely article, especially as many nervous parents are seeing kids off to far flung summer locations. We wrote a well-received article addressing some of the anxieties parents feel when preparing to send their children to foreign and remote domestic locations. You might enjoy the read: http://www.visionsserviceadventures.com/blog/38/140/A-Message-to-Parents.html
Thank you for sharing. This book will definitely go on my summer reading list!
I also read this article yesterday, and have also ordered the book. Despite the fact that I tell parents in a free consultation before they hire me, that 95% of my work is with their son/daughter, sometimes I find myself in a situation where the parent has put up roadblocks to communicating and working with their student. Some parents are reluctant to let their student take ownership of the process. No one strategy works the same with everyone. Granted, I am citing the exception rather than the rule, but any strategy that I can use that results in a better situation for the student, is one I want to know about. This book is at the top of my reading list as well!