Comments on: Back Off: Gen Y’s helicopter parents are a good thing

By: Learning from Mom, the Digital Way

Learning from Mom, the Digital Way — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 15:05:15 +0000

[...] to solve my problems for me (and hope they never call my boss), a number of us think it’s perfectly okay to maintain a close relationship with the nest. They’ve been where we’re going, shouldn’t we [...]

By: bah

bah — Sun, 16 May 2010 16:32:31 +0000

Ok. My parents are terrible source for advice.. hell, they’re just plain terrible. I couldn’t wait to get away from them, and I’m glad I don’t talk to them more than once a month, and usually only because I have to.

Articles like this piss me off, because it makes me feel like the abuse I endured at my parents’ hands has marked me out as a failure for life. I’ve actually had situations at work where people have asked about my parents, and I’m thinking to myself: ‘Do I tell them my parents are monsters and that I ran away and never looked back’, or do I lie and tell them ‘oh, yes, I miss my parents SOOO much’.

I spent my whole life trying to crawl out from under my parents’ dark shadow by working and studying hard. Its so rare to find anyone who is appreciative of that in the workplace.

By: Sasha

Sasha — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 21:56:13 +0000

People always look at me like I’m freak because I still talk to my mom after graduating college. Is it the American norm to give your parents the cold shoulder when you are out on your own? It seems so disloyal to me….

By: Entitled » Admiration on an anniversary

Entitled » Admiration on an anniversary — Thu, 21 May 2009 21:32:52 +0000

[...] many Gen Yers, I have an amazing relationship with my mom and dad. They are warm and loving parents; and [...]

By: Careers are like relationships, so ask your mom for advice | Bizzy Women

Careers are like relationships, so ask your mom for advice | Bizzy Women — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 09:33:44 +0000

[...] because normally my mother tells me how great I am, how I can do no wrong, and how all men suck. It is the Gen Y parenting creed. But tonight, I am not so [...]

By: Modite - Careers are like relationships, so ask your mom for advice

Modite - Careers are like relationships, so ask your mom for advice — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 05:25:33 +0000

[...] because normally my mother tells me how great I am, how I can do no wrong, and how all men suck. It is the Gen Y parenting creed. But tonight, I am not so [...]

By: Juliette

Juliette — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 19:06:26 +0000

As a young member of GenY (in my teens), I think that this article provides a rare optimistic view of helicopter parenting. However, I do not think that people asking their parents advice and respecting their opinions qualifies as helicopter parenting. That is simply called respecting your parents. I always thought that actual helicopter parenting was when parents involved themselves in every aspect of their child’s life in an unwanting and interfering sort of way.

Another interesting article about so-called ‘helicopter parenting’ is http://www.onteenstoday.com/2008/06/19/10-qualities-of-teacup-parenting-is-your-kid-too-fragile/ This website provides teen opinions on parenting topics.

By: Rachael

Rachael — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 17:05:00 +0000

I found this comment particularly interesting:
“But sometimes it would be helpful for your parents to do things on your behalf in recognition that you don’t have all the answers. I don’t think we were adequately prepared to enter the workforce, and even when we learned to ride a bike we had training wheels. ”
I think this problem is incredibly valid – particularly when it comes to work ethics among Gen-Y (we tend to be MUCH more lazy than our Boomer or Xer counterparts), I’m not sure what ‘term’ to put on my other thoughts. I think for the majority of us, we were latch-key kids, meaning we raised ourselves in great part (I was not one, my mom worked from home and for the most part was there when I was). The problem with this is that Gen-Y parents expected the school system to teach us the things they couldn’t or didn’t want to teach. Responsibility is one of them. I work for a company in which I am responsible for recruiting people for my team – I almost cringe at the thought of interviewing a Gen-Yer because of the baggage some carry – lack of personal responsibility, and in many ways looking for the easiest way out. I know that there are Gen-Yer’s who don’t fall into this category.
I still ask for my parents opinions about a lot of things (I’m married and I have a family) but I am certainly not expecting them to fix my problems or raise my kids for me. Do you think to a certain degree we are enabling our parents to hover over us?

I hope I didn’t ramble too much and this made some sense..

By: Don’t Be A Know-It-All | Utah Tech Jobs

Don’t Be A Know-It-All | Utah Tech Jobs — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 16:28:58 +0000

[...] provocative post about Helicopter Parenting on Modite this morning reminded me of some advice I frequently give to job-seekers, but I don’t know [...]

By: Robert Merrill

Robert Merrill — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 15:56:29 +0000

Boomers and Millenials actually have a lot in common with eachother, so I am not too surprised that you and your interviewer shared this interesting bond.

I like that you mentioned

“I believe we want to enable a workforce that asks for help, that respects their parents, and who aren’t afraid to admit that we don’t have all the answers.”

The most-common piece of advice I would give to a careerist is “Don’t lie. Admit when you don’t know… then prove that you’ll assemble the resources to get it figured out. This is the age of Google. You don’t have to be a ‘Know It All’, but you should learn how to be a ‘Know How to Find-out It All’.