Raising Independent Children It is not what you do for your children, but what you have taught them to do for themselves, that will make them successful human beings Ann Landers You know the scenario, you are supporting your teenage child to start a new school and without meaning to you are very helpfully arranging their bag the night before and making suggestion after suggestion about what they might have for lunch, which bus they will get home and what time they will start their homework. Letting go of our young people is hard but it is also the thing that we desperately want for each and every one of our children. Which is why it is remarkable to observe (and participate in!) the steady increase in what the media often refers to as helicopter parenting. This term essentially reflects a parent’s desire to be excessively involved in their children’s lives, to pave their way to success and to protect them from painful experiences such as