We’ve all heard stories about "helicopter parents" who hover over their children, micromanaging every moment of their lives. It comes in many forms – overscheduling children in extracurricular activities like ballet, soccer, painting, and debate when they’re still in elementary school. Pushing them in academics to be top in their class so they can get into top colleges and be successful in their chosen careers. At the same time, many of these parents are *telling their children the most important thing is to be happy. A mixed message, to be sure.
Middlebury College professor, Margaret "Peggy" Nelson, has taken a look at all of the aspects of hyper-vigilant parents, interviewing nearly 100 of them from around the country to see what social and technological pressures are changing the way we parent. The results are in her book "Parenting Out of Control: Anxious Parents in Uncertain Times."
She spoke with VPR’s Jane Lindholm about how those pressures are leading many parents to be much more involved in their children’s lives than previous generations.