Parents make a difficult choice between two unique styles of parenting to raise their child right, whatever their definition of “right” may be. There are many styles of parenting, but two particularly stand out: jet fighter and helicopter parenting styles.

A helicopter parent watches everything their child does and is always involved in their school, social and work life. A jet fighter parent keeps their distance and only involves themselves when there is an emergency, then keeps their distance once again. According to a Star Tribune article, there has been a quiet shift of millennial parents switching to the jet fighter style of parenting rather than the traditional helicopter style.

Students and teachers, whether they had children or not, were asked what they think about these two different parenting styles.

“If I were to have a child, I would use the jet fighter style. I would want them to trust me, as with the jet fighter style there is more trust between the child and parent. I believe that the jet fighter parents, in the long run, would have a better connection with their child than a helicopter parent,” sophomore Lara Cayci said.

23 students responded to a poll sent out about the two parenting styles. When asked which parenting style they thought their parent[s] most represented, 39.1% said jet fighter, 26.1% said helicopter and 34.8% said neither. Some students also explained that their parents did a bit of both. It is clear based on the responses given, there has been a subtle shift in parenting styles from a more helicopter focused manner to a jet fighter way.

“I think the jet fighter style one is better, just having more freedom where your parents aren’t always involved in everything, where you make your own decisions is better for a child, but I feel like also having a bit more structure by your parents being a little bit involved is also good. I think with the helicopter style you always have someone to tell you what’s right and wrong, compared to the jet fighter you have to learn from your mistakes which can be good as well,” ninth grader Gregory Forsberg said.

Even though almost every student and some staff members do not have children, someday in their future they might. As students grow into parents they will have to learn many new things, including how they want to raise their children. The SPA community is now familiar with which parenting style they like the best and which one they plan to use with their own children.