Every day, Director of Admissions(招生办)Ingrid Hayes and her fellow workers answer calls from anxious parents wanting to know how their child is doing.
“I know they want to give an extra push and we understand that,” Hayes said, “but we really do want the students to take center stage in the process.”
These over-involved(过分介入)moms and dads have come to be known as “helicopter parents”. Hayes said they are a bigger part of the college admissions process than ever.
Psychologist(心理学家)Mark Crawford explained the term comes from the idea of hovering(盘旋). “They’re always around their kids’ life, always making sure things go the way they need to go and not really allowing the kids to figure out solutions to problems on their own.”
Crawford described those parents coming for his advice, who want the best for their child, but never want that child to fail.
“I see a lot of parents who hold their kid’s hand across the high school graduation stage and think when they send them off to college all will be well,” Crawford said. “They are not doing them a favor. Too much concern(关心)will actually do them harm.”
In fact, a report from the National Survey of Student Engagement reported 86 percent of first-year college students were in frequent contact with their mothers through phone or computer. And 71 percent of freshmen communicated frequently with their fathers. The same report concluded students with higher levels of parental involvement usually had lower grades.
Crawford also said children of “helicopter parents” may have trouble later when they’re asked to take responsibility in the adult world. “They tend to blame others for bad results because they refuse to take responsibilities or make poor choices themselves,” Crawford said.
“Helicopter parents” can actually hurt their children’s growth. Some turn out to be “anxious adults who take very few risks outside of their comfort zones,” he said.
1.According to the passage, “helicopter parents” .
A.show too much concern for their children
B.help their kids a lot in their study
C.take very few risks outside of their comfort zones
D.are necessary in the present society
2.According to Crawford, children of “helicopter parents” .
A.can shoulder more responsibilities
B.tend to blame their parents for their concern
C.usually get higher grades in college
D.are less likely to become independent adults
3.The writer refers to the report of a national survey to show that .
A.more students prefer to communicate with their mothers
B.fathers are less concerned about their children’s college life
C.“helicopter parents” may harm their children’s college learning
D.students get low grades without high level parental involvement
4.The best title of the passage portably is .
A.Helicopter Parents Need to Step Back
B.Helicopter Parents Try to Help Their Young
C.Colleges Call for Parental involvement
D.Students Allowed to Take Center Stage