After the helicopter parents, we are talking more and more about mower parents and the risks that this entails for the child.
Being a parent is not an easy thing. And among the myriad questions that everyone is asking is the balance between the fact of let your child learn from their mistakes, with the risks that this entails, and the fact of overprotecting it. Extreme behavior is always criticized. The appearance of the term “helicopter parent” was particularly popular to evoke a certain category. From now on, we also hear about “mower parent”.
This term mainly became known through an American site listing the experiences of teachers, in 2018. The teacher in question explained that he had been called to recover an important item left behind by a relative for his child. But it wasn’t medicine or lunch or even homework, but a bottle of water. Behavior which illustrated for this professor a behavior more and more widespread.
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Prevent the child from facing difficulties
Because if the “helicopter parent” flies to the rescue of his child at the slightest ailment, the “mower parent” (or “snowplow parent”) strives to remove all obstacles in advance, even minimal, that his offspring could encounter. If, obviously, this behavior starts from a good intention, it is not without consequences.
Teachers and psychologists of course mention the danger that children do not get used to having to face challenges and break down obstacles themselves. They then risk being unable to do so when they can no longer rely on their parents. But beyond that, solving all the child’s problems for him sends the wrong message. He can interpret it as a lack of confidence of his parents in his abilities. He then risks losing self-confidence and developing anxiety. This does not mean that parents cannot support, or sometimes anticipate, their children’s problems, but this should not be done systematically, but in a logic of listening to needs and limits.