'Helicopter parents' are not exclusive to China. That said, there certainly does appear to be more than a 'fair share' of them, at least in schools that teach younger kids. However, does that mean that kids who DON'T have 'helicopter parents' are suffering more than those who do?

'Helicopter parents' exist because they not only want to enforce their own ideological model of the world onto their kids, but also want others to enforce that same ideology, even if it is not in the REAL best interests of that child. In other words, a classic case of 'Mama knows best!'

Anyone who has raised children will know that kids don't come with an 'instruction manual'. We do our best to raise our kids, often by drawing on our own (good and bad) experiences that we had when we were growing up.

That said, the now scrapped 'one-child-policy' in China has a lot to answer for.

Yes indeed!

Makes a lot of sense. Thanks again.

A helicopter parent (also called a cosseting parent or simply a cosseter)[1] is a parent who pays extremely close attention to a child's or children's experiences and problems, particularly at educational institutions. Helicopter parents are so named because, like helicopters, they hover overhead, overseeing their child's life.

The above text has been copied and pasted from the link below:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helicopter_parent

Every year there are dozens of students leaving our high school and going abroad to study. Quite a large percentage of those students, (I would put a 'realistic guesstimate' of around 20%), cannot speak English or have abysmal English ability. These same students have spent years in the same classrooms as their classmates, many of whom have excellent English skills. So who's fault is it? Parents (obviously) want to blame the teachers, or
school, for their child's lack of ability, because their 'little prince/princess' can surely 'do no wrong'.

Many of these kids don't even WANT to go abroad to study. Their parents are forcing them to go just so they can brag to their friends that their son/daughter is studying abroad. Those that don't 'make it' can just return to China and go to work in 'Daddy's factory', where they will undoubtedly be paid a handsome salary for playing on their mobile phone all day, just like they do now.

Many rich Chinese parents believe that their wealth can buy anything and everything their offspring require in life. They also believe they know what's best for their children, while other concerned groups who deal with their kids, such as teachers, don't know that. Many such parents haven't a clue how to raise their kids properly. I'd say such parents are an arrogant and undesirable subset of helicopter parents!

Even so, it seems to me that in China there are parents who do not do the necessary checks to
ensure that their kids won't be placed in a situation abroad where they will be in
trouble academically because of their poor English skills. Too many Chinese students
sent abroad to further their education do not perform well. I think not enough attention
is paid to their English skills and also to their motivation to study hard before they
are sent abroad. Also, many Chinese students are immature for their age compared to
western students. So, they are incapable of making the correct choices by themselves.

Every year there are dozens of students leaving our high school and going abroad to study. Quite a large percentage of those students, (I would put a 'realistic guesstimate' of around 20%), cannot speak English or have abysmal English ability. These same students have spent years in the same classrooms as their classmates, many of whom have excellent English skills. So who's fault is it? Parents (obviously) want to blame the teachers, or school, for their child's lack of ability, because their 'little prince/princess' can surely 'do no wrong'.

Many of these kids don't even WANT to go abroad to study. Their parents are forcing them to go just so they can brag to their friends that their son/daughter is studying abroad. Those that don't 'make it' can just return to China and go to work in 'Daddy's factory', where they will undoubtedly be paid a handsome salary for playing on their mobile phone all day, just like they do now.

I personally believe that too many FT's in China try too hard to 'teach' these kids, and often get frustrated and annoyed when they fail to succeed. I adopted the approach long ago that I'm not here to 'teach' students, I'm here to 'help them learn'. If they don't want to be taught; if they don't want to learn; it's a waste of time. Like the old saying goes - 'You can lead a horse to water........'

I believe that my classroom time is better spent on helping kids who genuinely want to improve their English skills, rather than forcing/punishing those students who just want to sleep or play on their phone throughout the lesson. Come exam time they just get a big fat 'zero'. It's then up to them to explain to their parents why they are wasting their money on expensive tuition fees.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again - Training centres may be 'scummy' and 'trashy', but they have a much higher % of students who actually have a desire to learn. It's sad that these same training centres often provide their 'hungry students' with a much lower calibre teacher. (No offence meant, but I think you get my meaning)

Those kids have the right to make their own mistakes. That's the only way to learn. In the fast changing world we live in, a child can't be sheltered for too long: They need to develop a sense of responsibility very early, don't you think?