helicopter parents

So I have this small problem where I'll sit down to read one of these crazy articles that's shared through Facebook and I won't move for two days! You know what I'm talking about. Those shares that are titled something like "20 people who share the worst thing they've said to someone," or something along those lines.

The most recent one I was going through was titled "22 teachers reveal the worst cases of helicopter parents they ever had to deal with." Let me just say, there are some CRAZY people in this world! Don't get me wrong, I have contacted my sons teachers when I had concerns about his behavior, grades, absences that I know weren't him skipping because he was home with me, etc. However, I don't think I've ever come across as a helicopter parent. I have genuine concerns and as far as making contact, I would literally gather up all the things I'd been meaning to talk to his teacher(s) about and maybe contact them once a month with my concerns unless it was something that had to be handled immediately. My kid is actually a pretty good kid, but he's lazy so obviously grades are our number one issue. I've never been one of those parents however, to blame the teacher for my child getting bad grades. If he got a 70 then he most likely deserved it because he was too lazy to put forth any effort on the assignment. My concerns are usually things like, "how is this going to affect his final grade" or "I see a few zeroes for days he was absent so did he not pick up the makeup work or what's going on?" Things like that…

Reading the things that teachers had to say however, actually concerned me quite a bit. We are now living in a generation of brats who think they're entitled to anything and everything they want, that they are special, and the worst part is, their parents who were definitely raised in a different time and manner, are supporting their attitudes! I don't get it! Why would you allow your child to think that way? You're only crippling them! No one disciplines their children anymore. No one holds them accountable for their actions, or in some cases, lack of actions. I am by no means a perfect parent, but I was raised to be responsible for my actions. I expect the same from my son. He's 15-years-old and he knows that if he screws up there will be consequences. I refuse to raise him in a fashion that would only cause him certain failure in his adult life. One day there won't be anyone there to pick up his messes, get him out of trouble and basically be his backbone and shoulder. At some point he will have to do it alone. He knows how to cook, clean, do laundry, drive and perform CPR as well as minor bandaging and nursing care due to my taking care of two ailing parents since my son was 4 years old. Yes, he's lazy in school and no I don't demand straight A's but I do demand he pass and by his school standards that's a 60. He knows I expect more of him than that. I demand at least 80's and while he could work harder, he does meet those expectations. I help him with his homework when he needs it but I refuse to do it for him. Again, I am not a perfect parent and my parents weren't perfect either, but they didn't raise me to believe the world owed me a damn thing and that's exactly how I'm raising my son.

Please, if you value your own future, stop raising and stop helping to raise, a world of self-entitled brats who think someone will always be there to coddle them!