Drone parenting is a parenting style that is widely practiced by millennial parents today. Unlike helicopter parenting that tends to control the children from a close distance, drone parenting gives more freedom to the children. Parents who apply drone parenting, they do not restrain their children. But they give their children space to explore new things.
Apparently, there are pros and cons of drone parenting. Well, let us understand more about drone parenting and its pros and cons here.
Pros of Drone Parenting
Here are some pros of drone parenting:
1. More expressive
By not strictly controlling the children like permissive parenting, the children become brave enough to express their feelings and opinions. Thus, children become more expressive and do not hesitate to express what is on their mind. Also, the children become easy to discuss with parents. Surely, this factor makes the children have an open mind and are smarter, because their opinions are not limited by parents’ restrictions. Aside from that, children are also able to understand and give feedback on a problem.
2. Tech-savvy
Unlike the past generation, children raised by millennial parents will be tech-savvy. Also, parents usually let their children explore various games and videos on their gadgets. Moreover, nowadays there are lots of educational games made specifically for children.
Cons of Drone Parenting
Here are some cons of drone parenting:
1. Children are difficult to manage
Drone parenting boasts an unrestrictive pattern of educating, but because it is too free, sometimes the children become difficult to manage. Usually, children will find it difficult to adapt to rules outside the home, such as at school or in the community, because they are too used to being set free by their parents. Do not worry, this can be avoided by imposing limited freedom on the children. In this case, parents still must train their children to be disciplined by setting some rules at home. For example, every time the children finish playing, they must tidy up after themselves. Or parents can also set that every day their bedtime is 9 pm. That way, the children will be more accustomed to the rules that exist in their lives later.
2. Technology addiction
Being tech-savvy is a good thing, but too much of it can hinder other aspects of development. Based on the research, from some patients who came to consult a psychologist about their toddler who was late in speaking, one of the main causes was because their toddler was too often using gadgets and not interacting with parents.
Need to note that not all children’s education should be given through gadgets. Parents can teach the children through books or walks to the park to see and learn about various colors. Also, parents can teach children to arrange wooden puzzles. For maximum development, children need varied stimulation, so do not let the parents and children deify gadgets too much.
Read also: How to Stop Kids from Gadget Addiction with Magic Water Book
Of course, drone parenting is good, especially with the nature of the children today who do not like to be regulated and controlled. But in applying drone parenting, the parents must understand that parents must still give limits and discipline to their children so that the children can grow up to be a good person.