Experts think that media has influenced the movement of parents intervening for their children in a myriad of ways. Helicopter parenting, for example, refers to “a style of parents who are over focused on their children,” says Carolyn Daitch, Ph.D., director of the Center for the Treatment of Anxiety Disorders near Detroit. “They typically take too much responsibility for their children’s experiences and, specifically, their successes or failures,” Dr. Daitch says.
Snowplow parenting (also known as lawnmower parenting), however, takes things a step further and describes parents who not only over focus, but overprotect their kids by fighting their battles for them.
“This generation of parents—whether we want to call them snowplow, helicopter, or lawnmower—is parenting in an age of anxiety. There is the 24-hour news cycle and social media reminding us of everything terrible that’s happening in the world,” says Dr. Carla Naumburg, clinical social worker in Newton, Massachusetts and the author of the new book, How to Stop Losing Your Sh*t with Your Kids: A Practical Guide to Becoming a Calmer, Happier Parent.
Read the rest of this article over on Parents.com.
