Port Washington Schools Head Featured In Helicopter-Parenting Doc

PORT WASHINGTON, NY — A new documentary film premiering Wednesday looks at the downsides of so-called "helicopter-parenting," in which well-intentioned adults smother, over-structure and stifle their children. The 80-minute film, “Chasing Childhood," follows education professionals and former helicopter parents who talk about how best to develop confident and independent young people, while also bringing back some fun and freedom to childhood.

The film premieres Wednesday with an online screening through a DOC NYC. Viewers can buy tickets and stream the film beginning at noon.

Port Washington parents and students will notice a familiar face: Michael Hynes, the superintendent of the Port Washington Union Free School District and staunch advocate for unstructured play, told Patch in a phone interview Tuesday he was interviewed for the film over the course of about 1 1/2 years beginning in 2017 when he served as superintendent of the Patchogue Medford School District.

During his five years there, Hynes garnered headlines for telling principals and teachers that New York's performance-evaluation methodology tying ratings to student test performance was "meaningless, invalid and inhumane." He doubled the amount of time that kids were allowed for recess from 20 minutes to 45 minutes. Integrated yoga into K-12 classes. Created mindfulness rooms in all schools so students could learn how to meditate. And added before-school play clubs where kids came to school early every Friday and were allowed to have a free-play session with, in his words, "no adults hovering over them."

So it's no surprise that Hynes features prominently in this film, which looks into issues stemming from what childhood has become. Hynes brought Lenore Skenazy, author and cofounder of the nonprofit Let Grow, into seven elementary schools and the organization helped kids perform basic activities once familiar to many children: Cook. Mow the lawn. Visit a local deli.

"She brought this great program in for free that allowed kids to do things that were just really counterintuitive to parents now," Hynes said.

The film makes the case that parents superstructure their kids and are nervous about what could happen to them, often to the child's own detriment.

"They wrap them in bubble wrap, and they don't allow them to do things on their own, like explore," Hynes said. "And I wanted to bring that back to childhood."

Videographers who were shooting video for the district at the time also happened to be working on a documentary. They ended up looking at how kids were raised in three different school systems in Wilton, Connecticut, New York City and Hynes' own Patchogue-Medford. The film specifically follows a high-performing student in Wilton who had a nervous breakdown from over-scheduling.

"Chasing Childhood" marks Hynes' first appearance in a documentary film. He didn't find the process nerve-wracking — you get used to the cameras after a while — it was "a little weird" to have camerapeople in his house with his children there, too.

Hynes called the film incredible, timely and well-threaded, noting that the America's students are more anxious, depressed and suicidal than any generation than ever before. The filmmakers shine a light on some reasons behind that rise, pointing to over-structuring, a hyper-belief in "stranger danger" and helicopter parenting where obstacles are removed from kids, preventing them from learning how to overcome and cope with failure.

Hynes' main message is by no means complex: let kids play on their own with their own rules. They'll learn they can control their own lives, manage their emotions and work with others.

In other words, more pickup football and basketball games, fewer organized sports.

"You don't see that outside anymore," he said. "You see adults and the kids are in traveling leagues or they're playing in other structured leagues where there's always an adult present. Back in the day, we'd play in the sump. We'd play sump tag for like seven hours at a clip. You don't see these things anymore where kids are designing the rules and they play within those structures."

Hynes encouraged parents and students to watch the film, and expects not all will agree with the filmmakers' assertion. That includes high-performing students who take a handful of AP classes, have their entire day hyper-structured and have no downtime.

"I think it's going to resonate with some and it's going to upset others," he said. "Absolutely. Absolutely. There's no doubt in my mind."

That's good, he said, because it generates a worthwhile discussion, especially with parents.

"What's more important than childhood and adolescence?" Hynes said. "I think if they're willing to spend 80 minutes watching it, it spurs a few conversations, I think it's well worth it."