Parenting is a complicated and a very diligent job. Only parents can understand the heavy responsibilities they bear on their shoulders in giving the best to their child. For parents, life is an everyday struggle to provide their child with the best they can afford — the best education, the best health care and the best life.
But there are certain families in which both or one of the parents apply certain restrictions on the child which unintentionally causes the child to lose self-confidence. It's not that both the parents are overprotective; normally it's either an overprotective father and a lenient mother or vice versa. The parent tends to be overcautious about everything the child does and continuously monitors his every move. This type of behaviour is acceptable till a certain age and in certain cases but excessive protection can result in disastrous circumstances.
Overprotective parenting magnifies in case of an only child. In this case, all the love and affection turns into overprotection or obsession, with the parent putting restrictions on the child. These restrictions can be rational like not allowing the child to stay out late at night, but can become unjust such as not allowing the child to drive a car even if he's in his twenties. Children shouldn't be treated as children forever and if parents keep a constant eye of protection on them, then the child would not only lack self-confidence, he/she would have very little self-respect and would develop a serious problem of low self-esteem. This is a major cause of mental illnesses which can result in drastic consequences, even suicide.
This low self esteem can prove catastrophic for the child as well as for the parents. The child will not be able to express his feelings; he would be shy, his mind wouldn't accept the fact that he's grown up, even if he has entered his twenties, and he would never live an independent life as he is always dependent on his parent(s). Parents often don't believe in the abilities of their children and don't allow them to carry out simple everyday tasks. This not only kills the confidence level of the child but he/she also falls short in figuring out his/her own responsibilities in life.
Overprotective parenting makes the child live in a cocoon of doubt and disbelief. He doesn't realise his potential because he wasn't allowed to do things on his own, he lacks interpersonal communication skills because one of his parents always talked on his behalf.
Growth is a natural phenomenon and every human being goes through it. Children can't grow into adults if their life is being managed by their parents. This results in a huge delay in inner development of the child. A continuous check on the child's activities can lead him to feel insecure for the rest of his life because, sub-consciously, he knows he was never allowed to do anything on his own.
When a child grows up, his need for independence also multiplies and he wants to do things on his own. A child in his teens wants to explore life on his own and doesn't want to walk holding his parents' finger for the rest of his life.
Parents carry out all the hardships for the better future of their child hoping the child would grow into a responsible adult and support his parents. But overprotective parenting shields these natural facts from the eyes of such parents. They don't realise that their obsessive behaviour is strangling the growth and development of the child which will end in the child growing into a frustrated adult, who remains upset, doesn't realise his responsibilities in life and people can easily trick him for he doesn't know how the world operates.
Children who are allowed to do things on their own become confident adults who know their responsibilities, their mental attitude also matures and they can easily adjust themselves when it's their turn to earn and support their parents. But the child, who always lived in the confinement of his home, with an ever vigilant parent, lacks the basic elements when he grows up. He can't adjust with the fast paced university and professional life and is unaware of how to manage his life, as his life was always managed by his parents.
