Overprotective parenting causes more trouble for the adolescent than it helps him or her. It promotes a lack of self-confidence and decision-making skills for the child in the long run. If a parent constantly hounds their teenager about an abnormally early curfew on the weekends, or never seems to stop nagging at them about making the “right” decisions around the “right” crowd, a teen’s natural reaction is to rebel. Sure, being home safely on time and making positive decisions are two great things to do, but at what cost? Teenagers are able to make level-headed decisions, if they’re allowed. Parents are more than welcome to be in their kid’s life, but at some point they have to let them decide a few things for themselves and make mistakes on their own. Without that, kids are likely to depend on their parents, unlike teenagers without overprotective parents, who are given just enough freedom to mature as independent adults.

            A child that has been overly protected for their entire teenage life will have trouble making important decisions on their own. Parents won’t always be there to push their kid in the right direction. Letting a teenager make a few life-impacting decisions as they grow up is an important part of maturing. It helps prepare them for the real world.

            Growing up, there are a lot of situations in which a kid could get hurt emotionally or physically. Sometimes, for a parent, it’s better to not do anything about certain situations. It subconsciously lets the child know there won’t always be someone there to catch them when they fall.

Parents that overprotect their children believe they are doing their children well in protecting them as they grow up. What they don’t see is that it harms them. It ill-prepares them for the real world. Teenagers need guidance from their parents, but too much can be unhealthy.

To deal with overprotective parents, one could present a few privileges they would like to have. Maybe a later curfew on the weekends, or sleeping over at a friend’s house an extended amount of times. A kid proving to their parent that they can handle more responsibility often loosens up the parents. As the extended freedoms are handled, the parents may realize their teenager isn’t as immature and naïve as they think. Parents need to see that overprotecting a child only makes them dependent on them forever.