Why Allowing Your Child To Make Mistakes Is So Important

Are you familiar with the term “helicopter parent” or have you ever been labeled as overprotective? Madeline Levine shares her opinion on raising successful children in a recent New York Times blog post and addresses the fact that overparenting isn’t always a bad thing as long as there’s balance.

The key, according to studies, is to be an “authoritative” parent compared to one that is lax and less involved or controlling and too involved. This style of parenting, by comparison, produces children who do better academically, psychologically and socially. But why is it so successful?

Levine goes on to explain how authoritative parents motivate their children while still giving them space to grow and learn on their own. While it may make sense to continuously tell a child how talented and how smart they are, one experiment shows that by praising a child, their confidence is tested and takes away from the “thrill” of working on their own.

“Once your child is capable of doing something, congratulate yourself on a job well done and move on. Continued, unnecessary intervention makes your child feel bad about himself (if he’s young) or angry at you (if he’s a teenager).”

Allowing your child to make mistakes and learn from them is one of the greatest challenges a parent faces, according to Levine. Many parents hate to see their children unhappy, but often times, the child handles it much better than parents tend to think. Looking to save them from everything takes away those challenges and could end up hurting them more in the long run.

Read the complete article on the New York Times website.

Do you feel you are an authoritative parent? Or do you think you need to work on not doing so much for your child?

About the author

Stacie Bailey is a recent graduate of Quinnipiac University with a master’s degree in Interactive Communications. She has strong interests in relationships, health, social media and an overall love for sharing knowledge and information.

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