The Fine Line Between Helping and Hurting

An article by the New York times examines a number of research studies to look at the link between exceptionally involved mothers and fathers, “helicopter parenting,” and successful students.  The authors conclude that parents should help their children, but that their help should not supplant their child’s own innate drive and motivation–to support, not supplant:

“The answer, research suggests, is that our help has to be responsive to the recipient’s circumstances: it must balance their need for support with their need for competence. We should restrain our urge to help unless the recipient truly needs it, and even then, we should calibrate it to complement rather than substitute for the recipient’s efforts.”

Read the full article at the New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/12/opinion/sunday/too-much-helicopter-parenting.html