Hovering Or Just Involved?
There has been some buzz lately on the 12 question quiz Are You a Helicopter Parent. The quiz, put out by The College Board, stands to hlp you understand if you are hovering too close to your children and making too many of their decisions for them. Though I don’t have any college aged children yet some of the questions seemed too black and white to me. As with anything in real life there are so many shades of gray, so many “what if” moments that it is hard to choose just “yes” or “no”. What might be hovering in one situation may be just what the child needs in another. Dana did a great job of looking at the questions one by one and analyzing them.
Historical/Present also has a great post up discussing this quiz, especially from a homeschooling point of view.
As other homeschoolers reading this checklist will instantly realize, there are going to be college admissions officers who consider all homeschooling parents to be problem parents, if they are basing their opinions on these criteria
There are also different types of helicopter parents also it seems. Depending on what you to hover over your children. Are you marching into the president’s office or sending care packages? Either could be seen as too much. Though I recall my college years I might not have survived without some care packages from Grandma showing up, and I don’t think that has stopped me from becoming a functioning adult.
The Black Hawk Parent type reminded me of an article from the Secular Homeschooling magazine. The mother did march into the administration’s offices when her homeschooled son was denied entrance into college. And she won. Hovering, or taking care of her child? I guess that depends on who you ask.
helicopter parents, parenting, college
January 2nd, 2008 at 5:53 pm
Thanks for stopping by my blog. I was pretty disgusted with the misuse of the quiz by a television station that printed most of the questions on their web site, saying that if you answer yes to more than half the questions you are jeopardizing your child’s psychological well-being. But you when actually go take the quiz as it was designed to be taken, there are questions where the best answer is supposed to be “yes.” Very sloppy. And it is proliferating. There is now a thread at the College Confidential web site, in the parent forums, that picks up the questions from the TV station web site, not from the College Board.
January 2nd, 2008 at 9:27 pm
One woman’s hovering is another woman’s involved. The day I start listening to those bozos is the day I need to have my head examined. (I bet none of them have kids.)
January 7th, 2008 at 8:08 am
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