An Australian study in the Journal of Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools is the latest in a pile of evidence suggesting that, while parental involvement in education is generally helpful, parents don’t always recognize when their involvement crosses the line into harmful “overparenting.”
Researchers at Queensland University of Technology in Australia surveyed 866 parents from local independent schools on their parenting beliefs and their attitudes about their children’s homework.
The most highly involved parents were no different from other parents in how much responsibility they expected their children to take in doing homework.
But they did take significantly more personal responsibility than other parents—and expect teachers to do the same—in making sure the homework was done. Those who scored high on overparenting continued to tightly supervise children into middle and high school—a point where researchers said intense parental supervision becomes developmentally inappropriate.
