Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has criticised 'helicopter parenting' in modern child-rearing, saying that this way of raising kids may help them in short-term but it will prove to be a 'disservice' in long term scenarios. His stance also drew high praise from fellow tech billionaire Michael Dell. Khosrowshahi openly criticised the trend of parents over-protecting and over-managing their children's daily lives, arguing that this kind of shielding of children from friction does more harm than good, a sentiment that Dell publicly endorsed as “excellent parenting advice.”“I think we're doing our kids a disservice. Giving them too much, being around too much,” he said.The problem with ‘Helicopter Parenting’The Uber chief shared his perspective with portfolio manager Patrick O'Shaughnessy by contrasting today's intensive parenting styles with his own childhood experiences.“I don't know about you as a kid, but on the weekends, my mom would be like, ‘Get out of here and come back for dinner.’ Figure it out,” Khosrowshahi stated. He further noted that while the natural impulse of a loving parent is to want an easy life for their children, it ultimately strips them of the fundamental experiences required to build character. “And I think this kind of the helicopter parenting, etc, or being around your kids all the time. You want to love your kids... You want to know that they're absolutely, absolutely loved and appreciated, but it's the challenges in life that form you. And it's the overcoming of these challenges that give humans a profound satisfaction,” the Uber CEO stated.Short-term favours vs. long-term damageAccording to Khosrowshahi, stepping in to solve every minor crisis for a child replaces their ability to take on challenges in the long term with short-term comfort. He emphasised that true personal fulfillment comes from wrestling with difficulties and winning.“And if you as a parent are overcoming these challenges for your kids, you're actually doing them a disservice long term whereas short term, you think that you're doing them a favor, you're giving them easier life. A happy life is not necessarily easy life. And so, for me, it is a challenge because I love my kids,” Khosrowshahi explained.The Uber executive admitted that holding back can be difficult because of how much he loves his children. However, he revealed that he and his partner, Sydney, intentionally co-parent with strict boundaries to ensure their kids do not become overly dependent.“But Syd and I co-parent in a way [where] we're not going to do everything for the kids. They're responsible for their homework. They've got to learn how to make it in this world themselves within a scope of family, which will prepare them for the outside world, which, as you know, can't throw you a lot of curveballs,” he added.