Michael Grose - Leading Parent Educator

Parents have always worried about their children. It’s part of the job description.

But today we worry more.

Many see the world as a frightening, competitive place in which their kids’ very survival, let alone success, depends on their constant vigilance.

“There’s no disputing it – today’s parents monitor their own children much more than their own parents ever monitored them,” says Michael Grose, one of Australia’s leading parenting educators

“Parents have developed an aversion to letting their kids learn through exploring, for fear of the child making choices, and a wish to make life easy and keep them happy,” he explains.

When parents experience such anxiety it can distort their notion of success and wipe out common sense, says Andrew Fuller, also the author of Raising Real People. “I see parents who are on an endless quest to maximise their child’s potential,” he says. “If their child is ranked second in their class, they immediately ask, ‘What can I do to make them top of the class?’ It’s an attitude that’s toxic to good childhood.”

The hypervigilance noted by Grose and Fuller has spawned the term “helicopter parent.” Just as helicopters hover over scenes of disaster, such parents hover over their children, fearing disaster at every turn.