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Is over parenting downgrading children’s development?

Posted at 10:19 PM, May 09, 2018
and last updated 2018-05-10 00:19:34-04

SALT LAKE CITY -- Counselors say "helicopter parenting" is reaching the next level in what some are calling "lawnmower parenting."

“It’s trying to clean-up all of the mistakes that are possible by going ahead of our kids and not letting them feel discomfort,” says Tracy Thompson, a Licensed Professional Counselor, who adds its fear based. “It’s fear that something terrible is going to happen to our kids and we're not going to have control over it. But the truth is, they need to experience that kind of responsibility.”

Thompson, who works with The Fountain Hill Center for Counseling and Consultation in Grand Rapids, spoke to WXMI about the risks of over parenting children and how an effort to make life easier for them may end up setting them up for future failures.

Click here for more from WXMI.

Utah recently passed a"free range parenting" law, which redefines "neglect" and allows parents more control over when their children are allowed to be away from home without supervision.