Tillie Hogenson
Staff Reporter

According to studies done by psychologists, it shows that over-parenting is causing anxiety and mental health concerns in children. Over-parenting is also shown to have an outcome of low self-confidence and become less responsible.

Multiple kinds of parenting styles work for different families and kids. These include authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, and uninvolved parenting. Studies say that the worst type of parenting is uninvolved parenting, as they may not care for their kids or are involved in their lives. Overprotective parents usually fall into the authoritative or authoritarian category. Carol Lloyd, a psychologist at Chichester University, states that the best type of parenting would be authoritative, as these parents are involved with their child, emotionally, physically, and mentally.

As over-parenting is increasing, there is rising concern on kids’ mental health. Parents who are overprotective feel that “they have to prepare the road for their child, rather than prepare the child for the road,” said Lynn-Haims, a professor at Stanford University. Over-parenting can work in the short term but can cause destruction in the child’s adult life later on.

The messages they receive can be degrading. Some of these messages include, “You need me. You can’t make good decisions. You picked the wrong thing. You’re doing everything wrong,” the Behavior Interventionist ParaProfessional at Orono High School, Molly Haglin said. She also states, “How can students ever be empowered to know that they can have an idea about something they want to do, set out to accomplish it, and then accomplish it if they are always being told they can never do it.”

Ronaldo Riggio, a Professor of Psychology at Claremont McKenna College, collected data from a study he directed. He found that over-parenting causes negative effects on children being responsible and low self-esteem. Female children are more likely to be affected by over-parenting compared to male figures because their self-esteem and confidence are usually lower than men.

Parents who are overprotective might be more controlling, safe, and disciplined. Many authoritative and authoritarian parents have an app called Life 360. This app allows parents to know locations and details about where their children are and/or have been. It has become increasingly popular with over 34 million users on the app to date.

“Your parents will know your location, how fast your driving, where you have been. There’s a free version and a paid version. The free version is the basic tracking app, while the paid allows for drive time and tracking, and extras,” a student, Juliana Ward, at OHS said.

Sara Ibs, a psychology teacher at OHS spoke about her feelings on over-parenting, “I am constantly thinking about this. I am training my little people to one day be adults. My job is to coach them even when they fail, which can allow them to develop their confidence and hopefully help them become adults,” she said.

According to a study completed by Diana Diamond, a Psychological Professor in New York, found that more than 55 percent of students were struggling with anxiety, while 45 percent of students had depression due to the lack of parenting or the over-protectiveness of their parents.