ABSTRACT
Drawing on three years of observations in schools, sociologist Jessica Calarco points to the ways that “helicopter” parents (especially higher-SES, white, stay-at-home and part-time-employed mothers) are permitted to overstep school boundaries. She highlights that these parents are the mainstay of the unpaid volunteer labor force that schools must rely on to provide quality instruction and activities, and as a result, teachers and school administrators use special favors and strategic rule exemptions to avoid conflict with such parents.
