Gary Martin: Drone parenting flies in the face of kids’ bid for autonomy

In the ever-evolving landscape of parenting, a novel flight plan is being charted beyond the more familiar hover of helicopter parenting.

Drone parenting describes a style of raising our young that takes parental guidance and surveillance to new heights, creating dangerous headwinds that hinder children’s ability to become independent and solve problems independently.

Most of us are familiar with the concept of helicopter parenting, which describes parents who hover closely over their offspring and swoop in to rescue them at the slightest hint of trouble.

But as family dynamics take flight into new territories, we are witnessing the descent of helicopter parenting and the ascent of its high-flying successor: navigating the airspace of modern child-rearing with a remote yet watchful eye.

Drone parents leverage technology to continuously monitor and regulate their children’s activities with a subtlety that marks a new era of oversight.

Drawing from their technological toolbox, drone parents deploy various apps and devices to keep a virtual eye on their children’s whereabouts, online behaviour and social interactions to ensure they can oversee and intervene from afar with precision and immediacy.

GPS-equipped smartphones and smartwatches let parents track their children’s locations, offering security but sparking privacy concerns.

Monitoring apps scrutinise children’s social interactions and online exposure, aiming for safety but limiting digital independence.

In-home surveillance extends parental watchfulness, even without direct supervision, to push the boundaries of childhood monitoring.

Academic tracking tools allow parents to oversee educational progress remotely, bypassing direct conversation, while screen-time control tools allow parents to balance their children’s digital and real-life experiences.

And drone parents rely heavily on smartphones, tablets and other digital devices to constantly communicate with their children, checking in frequently throughout the day.

Together, these practices illustrate a comprehensive approach to parenting that leverages technology for safety and development yet also navigates the fine line between caring involvement and overbearing surveillance.

At the heart of drone parenting is a deep-seated affection and a persistent need to protect, often influenced by the parent’s unresolved childhood traumas.

These can include experiences of unfairness, bullying or missed opportunities, leading parents to try to rectify these through their children.

Despite their good intentions, drone parents might lack self-awareness and fail to recognise the counterproductive nature of their actions.

Like helicopter parents, drone parents fail to see their role as parents is to prepare their child for the journey ahead — not to prepare the journey for the child.

Extreme drone parenting flies in the face of children’s autonomy and self-development and leaves little room for them to navigate the skies of independence.

No one disputes that surveillance is necessary and that technology has provided several different tools to enhance child safety and parental peace of mind.

The challenge for today’s parents lies in setting the correct flight path to balance the critical task of navigating safely with the equally important goal of cultivating independence and resilience in these young pilots: our kids.

Professor Gary Martin is CEO of AIM WA and a workplace and social affairs expert.