Christine Hassler at The Huffington Post has come up with a useful new pop sociology term. Where "helicopter parents" hover over their children, "cockpit parents" run their children's lives for them.
We all have the vices of our virtues. If one of the virtues of your family is that parents and children are close, and adult children respect their parents' wisdom, you (we) are also likely to have the vice of trying to support and advise too much. Hassler offers some helpful advice to parents about how to step back from running their children's lives. Complementary advice to those grown children would be to turn down your parents' direction, even when it would, in the short run, be helpful and easy.
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I still prefer the "helicopter" image, which evokes a hapless ten-year old, struggling to stand in the wash of the rotors, the spotlight beaming down bright, as Mom's voice booms down instructions over the bullhorn.
Howe and Strauss (Millennials go to College) coined "Stealth Fighter Parents" - "even more protective, digitally keyed-in for constant surveillance, sharp eyes on the target, and ready to strike at a moment’s notice to defend their children’s interests."
This direction could be unavoidable for college students. I wonder what college presidents think about these parents.
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