Opinion essay
Are nowadays teenagers overprotected?
Nowadays, overprotected teenagers seem to have become a species on their own in modern
society. Although, to tell the truth, they go hand-in-hand- with another species akin: the
overprotective parents. In the following, I shall deal with the effects of helicopter parents on
teenagers and how the former negatively affect the latter’s development.
On the one hand, being raised as an overprotected teenager has some apparent advantages.
Everybody likes to be mom and dad’s favourite. Parents who go to great lengths to ensure their
children’s education, leisure and lifestyle whims and shield them from any possible harm,
consequences, or frustration, just seem the perfect picture book image.
On the other hand, these teenagers are robbed of vital experiences that prepare for life and may
even, in the long run, face more serious problems. Teenagers push the boundaries and if they
do not encounter a clear set of rules and consequential behaviour, they might feel the urge to
push the limits farther engaging in drugs, risk-taking activities such as subway-surfing, dangerous
driving, or unsafe sex.
Teenagers need to experience that there are boundaries, that their behaviour has consequences
which they have to assume and that they cannot always rely on their parents to get out of every
difficult situation. Failure, frustration, pain, and sadness form as much part of human experience
as joy, success, and happiness.
In summary, I think it can be said that teenagers are overprotect for the most part in modern
society under the false assumption that protecting them from all possible harm, although with
the best intention, will help them grow into a happy adulthood. But life is not all roses and the
sooner we humans learn this, the better chances we have to become independent, responsible
and fulfilled adults