Parents call the police every time their 19-year-old college student daughter goes dark on Life360: ‘I feel like I'm being suffocated’

If you don't let your child spread their wings and fly, they'll never learn… and it'll be your fault.

Helicopter parents aren't a new phenomenon. Sure, most kids born in the late 20th century raised themselves, and only had to be home for supper each evening. However, there were also a few parents here and there who would watch their child's movements like a hawk. The answer to this, of course, is finding a healthy balance of the two. Check in with your 11-year-old at the park to ask them if they're ready for the sandwich you brought for lunch. But also, let them fall on the floor and get a scrape on their knee because they were doing the monkey bars too quickly. How else will we allow the children of today to become the leaders of tomorrow if we, as parents, are calling the authorities each time their location turns off?

When parents send their children off to college, they often struggle with either not reaching out enough or checking in way too much. They ask their kids why they spend so much time at the dining hall, and their child has to reply with, "How do you know that?" The answer: Location-sharing apps. Scroll below to read this college student's lamentation about her parents' inability to let her breathe.