I learned a new term today: helicopter parents

These are folk who hover closely over their children, stepping in to solve all their problems, run interference with teachers, coaches, and first employers, and manage their social and financial obligations and obstacles. The result of their parenting: children who are incapable of problem-solving, critical-thinking skills, who have little if any sense of self-discipline and social responsibility, who labor beneath an inflated sense of self-importance and entitlement, and who have no concept of consequences.

So, while the helicopter parent would shudder at the notion of letting his/her child "sink or swim," they just might want to take another look at a more hands-off approach to the rearing of their loved ones.

I see the results already. I see younger fellow employees at work who want everything handed to them and who will not take one step beyond the minimum required of them. Colleges across the nation dread dealing with the parents, but I disliked facing the students. Students who did not want to study, who wanted me to take notes on the reading assignments and pass them out, and who wanted to have practice sessions before a test. They wanted to get an A for showing up and at least doing some work.

I oft stand on a soapbox bemoaning the fact that this nation has seemingly embraced medocrity as excellence, failing to see the difference between the two. This notion of helicopter parents does not bode well for my hopes of a generation who eshews the easy sop that is fed them at every turn and strives to learn, to grow, and to change. Children can never learn hunger for excellence if nary a moment passes without them being swaddled and swathed and sated with their every pleasure.