<p>According to an article from the WSJ published in todays Seattle paper parents are now calling employers to put in a word for their kid or even coming along to job interviews!! Some have tried to negotiate higher pay on job offers. This is getting insane.
Sorry, no link.</p>
<p>Discussion on this topic has begun on the Parents Cafe forum:
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=171791%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=171791</a></p>
<p>That's a big GBPH on me.</p>
<p>What does GBPH mean?????</p>
<p>I have no problem with people being "heli parents" in the case of their minor aged kids (because educators often will not listen to kids' concerns) but parents of adult-aged kids need to back off (Does anyone remember the Raymond episode where Marie sends a fax to the FBI man who is interviewing her son, Robert?)</p>
<p>I don't like the title "heli-copter parent" being used when parents are forced to intervene for their minor-aged kids for valid reasons. Educators have coined this label (gee, I thought they hated labels), as a means to intimidate parents. (I know, some parents will complain about irrelevant or inconsequential things). </p>
<p>I look at it this way: Those of us who have had a family member that was seriously ill, have learned that you can't depend on a very educated medical team to "cover all bases" and not make minor to serious mistakes. For that reason, we know that we have to be "vigilant" to make sure our loved one receives competant care. Hospital personnel do not call such people "helicopter parents"; as a matter of fact, hospital personnel are GRATEFUL when errors are discovered before irreversible damage has occurred. Yet, when parents uncover mistakes in the education world, they are called "helicopter parents" -- a very derisive label.</p>
<p>One of our kid's teachers makes a big deal out of the fact that 10% of a kid's grade is "classroom participation", yet when we recently uncovered that she forgot to include that 10% in the 3rd qtr report cards (causing everyone's grade to drop) she ignored the students requests for corrections. She then got mad when parents got involved and now thinks we are "heli parents".</p>
<p>Germans bomb Pearl Harbor. Means old news already posted.</p>
<p>ahhh.....</p>
<p>I asked my computer savvy kids and they didn't know.... thanks.</p>