When one is an adolescent, he or shewill face with both success and failure. To be well structured, it is important to experience both. Nonetheless, if you happen to be one of those overprotective parents, then you might cause your child to miss out on such opportunities, either in their professional/career life or in their social lives. A tough parent will often have a soft place for the child to land on, whilebeing overprotective will only shield your son or daughter from challenges. This might end up binding them to a hard life in future.
Signs That You Are Overprotective Parents
- Solving all your child’s problems
- Constantly contacting your child while they are physically away from you
- Working hard to ensure your child succeeds
- Offering too much sympathy to your child if something does not work out for them
- Controlling friendships
- Constantly talking to the child, spouse, friend, even teachers to find out if your child is fine.
- Enquiring about your children’s lives frequently
- Not giving house chores
- Discouraging your children from taking any risk
- Failing to educate your child about what the real world is all about
Why Is It Harmful to Be Overprotective Parents?
If you are overprotective parents, then there is likelihood that your children will suffer the consequences of your “protection”. In most cases, the effects will always be negative. Here are some of the reasons why you should not be an overprotective parent.
1. Hinder Learning
If you are overprotective parents, you will make your children as prisoners in your house. They are unable to experience the world as it is, and as a result they are not able to make independent decisions without looking up to you for answers.
2. Limit Happiness
If you think overprotecting your child will give them a stress free life, you are likely to be wrong. In most cases, children who have overprotective parents tend to suffer from anxiety and depression as a result of their parents being controlling all over their business.
3. Lower Confidence
Just like adults, children also gain their confidence by working hard towards their goals. However, if you are overprotective parents, you impede your child’s opportunity to gain any skills, making them feel as if they are not capable of doing anything right on their own.
4. Inhibit Growth
As a parent, one of your responsibilities is to prepare your children to be independent and responsible adults in future. However, if you are overprotective, you deny them the chance of maturing.
Say Goodbye to Being Overprotective Parents
If you are overprotective parents, then you might end up bringing up children who have low confidence, anxiety and/or depression disorders. In order to bring up responsible and mature adults, below are some parenting tips that might come in handy.
1. Believe in Your Teachings
As long as you have done a good job of teaching your children about the right and wrong, then when they are adolescents, they are fully capable of making sound decisions. Believe what you have taught them is enough to help them figure life out.
2. Give Them Space
Before you run to rescue your adolescent from a problem, first give them time and see how things will turn out. This will give the teenager an opportunity to make a decision even when overwhelmed by emotions. This is a very useful skill when they become adults.
3. Acquire New Communication Skills
Overprotective parents tend to tell their children what to do, instead you should learn how to listen instead and if needed, offer suggestions. When it comes to making the final decision, let that be something they handle on their own.
4. Consider the Worst That Could Happen
Before you decide to help your adolescent with a difficult situation, it’s important to first think about the worst case that will happen. If it is something bearable, you can let your children go through it. Only intervene if you feel your child might land in serious danger, physically or emotionally.
5. Let the Child Make the Final Decision
When children realize that they are capable of achieving anything on their own, they get a natural desire for independence. Overprotective parents tend to deny their children about this point, and as a result, they are not capable of making independent decisions in the future. So be sure to make your children make their final decision and be responsible for that.
6. Let the Children Experience Consequences
Let your teenager suffer or enjoy the consequences of their decision. Do not intervene when the consequences seem harsh. This will give them a sense of responsibility in future.
7. No Is Also an Answer
It is not a must that your adolescent child gets what he or she wants. This will make them learn that the world will not always give them what they want and when they want it. If they ask for something that is not a necessity, you can always say no.
8. Teach Self-Advocacy
When growing up, children have their parents as their advocates. However, you should let them be their own advocate as they get into teen age. This will make it possible for them to know and speak out what they need in relationships and in school.
9. Seek Help
By the time a child is getting to the adolescence stage with overprotective parents, there might be a high level of co-dependence. Professional help can be sought to encourage the parents to practice a better parenting style, and for the teenager to be able to become an independent individual.
Here are some interesting descriptions about overprotective parents. Enjoy!
https://www.distractify.com/26-signs-you-have-overprotective-parents-1197886422.html