The Washington Wives, or the Inescapable Helicopter Parents

Before I begin the main point of my essay, an example from recent American History will serve as an ample introduction, and will reveal my intentions. In 1984 a group of wives in Washington D.C banded together to advise parents about dangerous music their children could be listening to. Lyrics to racy, videos to sexy, in the eyes of these women, the Washington Wives, this music was improper, even sinful. It could even turn children into killers. They Washington Wives got their name because of whom they were married to, high ranking politicians such as Al Gore and John Nevius. These women knew America. So, of course they knew its children. Wrong. What on Earth would a group of middle aged, white, affluent, and Christian women know about the youth of the nation? That is who they were speaking on behalf of when they went after hair metal and put a sticker on records. The Washington Wives: rich, white women, real Mother Teresas, hovering over the nation's youth, filtering out harmful messages.

The Washington Wives are similar to any good helicopter parent, watching out for their children, not wanting them to get mixed up with bad stuff. But as a recent child, I hated my mother when she choppered over me, not letting me play Halo 2, go to a Rush concert with my dad, protecting me from things I didn't need protection from – disabling my autonomy. This is not censorship on a wider level, however. But the lessons learned from the Washington Wives is still acting on the youth of the nation. There is an all encompassing helicopter parent still on the lose out there.

Here I will list what I view the worst type of Helicopter Parenting in America. Book banning. Ignited with fury when my Alma Mater banned The Adventures of Huckleberry Fin, last winter, this hits home for me. The protocol used to ban a classic is arbitrary, especially given the fact those that banned it most likely read it while in high school. Intellectual censorship at its worst. The notion that young adults are too immature to read a novel with bad language, albeit gross repetition of an extremely offensive term, is absurd. Have these helicopter parents noticed how progressive intellectually this generation is?

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