If helicopter parents weren’t making it tough enough to grow up, now students have an even bigger threat to their futures: the lawnmower parents.

    According to the NEA Today article “Educators Weigh In on Lawnmower Parents”, schools are filled with lawnmower parents today. “Rather than hovering above their children like helicopter parents, lawnmower parents plow ahead of them, interfering and micromanaging their children’s lives to safeguard them from failure, disappointment, or even the slightest bit of struggle.”

    “My parents are strict on some things, but they don’t do everything for me. They want me to do things for myself, but I can still go to them for help,” said Batseba Okubamichael (‘20).

    Many students in Pleasanton, specifically Amador students, have admitted that they have or know someone who has a lawnmower parent.

    How do we know these parents exist at Amador? The problems that occurred last year that led to the new outdoor “drop-off” table are a perfect example.

    “We decided to move the drop-off table to a place outside because parents would constantly be dropping off special lunches in the office for their kids. It got to a point where it was a hazard because food could be spilled and make a mess on the carpet,” said Office Attendant Karen Lambros.

    Lawnmower  parents will do anything and everything for their child in order to ‘make their life easier’, from writing a disgruntled emails to teachers about an “undeserved” grades to leaving work to drop off forgotten items so students won’t have to ‘do without’ during the school day.

    Lawnmower parenting can actually create extreme problems for the child later on because of the hijacking of decisions. The child will never truly learn how to voice their concerns or questions on their own, and will always rely on others to advise their decisions. Even worse, they may develop a level of emotional instability because they were always treated as if they weren’t good enough to make their own decisions.

    At Amador, teachers in particular have voiced concern about these parents.

    “Lawnmower parents often treat everything as an extreme. In my experiences, the parent will act as if a B grade is as awful as a F, and has to be changed to an A,” said AP Studio Art Teacher Michael Doyle.

    With a rapidly growing generation of future innovators, we need to prepare our children with experiences in problem solving and the inevitable face of defeat.