'Helicopter parenting' is misleading: it's not the degree of parental involvement and oversight that's the problem, it's the degree of unwelcome interference. True, if I'm going to err I'd rather err on the side of benign neglect. Yet blaming 'overprotective' parents is unfair. It only takes phone call or two and children can be temporarily removed by social services. The mere prospect of which is a major heartache.