Helicopter parenting
Kara Powell | Aug 16, 2010
A friend of mine sent me a Forbes article about how being a helicopter parent is viewed as being a “good” parent when it comes to divorce and custody settlements.
I’m all for parents’ involvement in their kids’ lives. I try to be involved in my own kids’ lives and I appreciate parents at our church who track with what we’re doing in youth ministry and support it.
But one of my life mantras is that balance is something we swing through on our way to the other extreme. And that seems to be what’s happening with parenting. Involvement has become over-involvement. Support has become smothering.
I’m no psychologist, but I’m guessing that fear and guilt are two of the major motivations behind helicopter parenting. How can we parent based on love and God’s grace instead?
Dr. Kara Powell is the Executive Director of the Fuller Youth Institute (FYI), a faculty member at Fuller Theological Seminary, and Fuller's Chief of Leadership Formation. Named by Christianity Today as one of “50 Women You Should Know,” Kara serves as a Youth and Family Strategist for Orange, and also speaks regularly at parenting and leadership conferences. Kara is the author or coauthor of a number of books, including Growing Young, Growing With, The Sticky Faith Guide for Your Family, Sticky Faith Curriculum, Can I Ask That?, Deep Justice Journeys, Deep Justice in a Broken World, Deep Ministry in a Shallow World, and the Good Sex Youth Ministry Curriculum. Kara lives with her husband Dave and their three children, Nathan, Krista, and Jessica, in Southern California.
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