Helicopter parenting (noun): a style of parenting where one or both parents has an excessive interest or is too focused on their child’s life. Helicopter parenting exists because some parents don’t believe their child is capable of doing a certain task, or that the child can’t do a said task as well as the parent can. Helicopter parents are prevalent in high school and college students’ lives, mostly due to intense academic pressures. These over-controlling parents call up teachers because of poor grades, manage class schedules, or call schools to yell at counselors just because they get too invested in their child’s successes and failures. Helicopter parenting causes many upperclassmen to stress even more about college and the admissions process, because the importance of getting into college has been emphasized to the point of absurdity. As more stress is put on graduate degrees obtained from prestigious universities, parents become overly obsessed with their child’s college admission.

Overzealous parents seem to believe that they are choosing and applying to colleges with their kids. These parents write their kids’ college essays and ask thousands of questions on campus tours. They use the word “our” and “we” frequently when talking with college admissions officers or chatting about college in general. Much of it is well-meaning; parents don’t want to see their kids crack under the pressure of college admissions, so they try to make it easier by having the process be a “team” effort. This, however, creates an opportunity for students to remain immature and impairs students’ abilities to make their own decisions. This incompetence stays with students once they go to college.

Their minds consumed by thoughts of staying on the “right path,” helicopter parents make most of the important decisions for their children. Parents want their kids to do well in and out of college, but much of graduates’ futures depends on college degrees, so parents often obsess over college admissions. Parents are convinced that their children will not get into the most prestigious colleges without their help and it can be difficult for them to refrain from being overbearing.

Therefore, parents need to take a step back and just give support when their child needs it. College students live independent lives, taking care of themselves by doing their own laundry, getting jobs, and making sure they get good grades. It’s a balancing act that a parent cannot do much about, given the distance and separation. By letting kids take the lead in the college admissions process and offering advice only when asked, parents will give their children a sense of responsibility and self-empowerment.