History Main / HandsOffParenting

See also AdultsAreUseless, DisappearedDad, MissingMom, WhenYouComingHomeDad, FreeRangeChildren, HippieParents, MinorLivingAlone, NoFathersAllowed, ParentalAbandonment, PermissiveParents and ParentalNeglect.

*** Matter of fact, this applies to most of the parents of the Phantom Thieves. Ann's parents are famous fashion designers who are never around, Ryuji's stepfather is abusive, but his mother is decent, and he loves her very much; Futaba's guardian, while caring very much about her, has no idea how to help her deal with her {{Hikikomori}} issues and so just leaves food outside her bedroom door, and Haru's father is very much aloof and overly focused on running their family's fast-food conglomerate.

Might be a consequence of a parent who is AllergicToRoutine or DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife. Polar opposite of (and '''never''' confuse with) MeddlingParents, OverprotectiveDad and MyBelovedSmother.

[[folder:Film]]

''ComicStrip/{{Luann}}'': The [=DeGroots=] towards Luann. About the only time they deign to notice her presence is when she does something to displease them. Especially glaring in light of how [[MyBelovedSmother Nancy is obsessed with keeping Brad]] from going to first base. However; whenever there's a major decision such as getting a car or a house, they are there. One strip that's PlayedForLaughs has Luann ground ''herself'' because she knows she did something wrong.

* ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' Likewise, this seems to be the main reason Mandark is evil (though it is also strongly hinted he was just born that way).

* The parents in ''Literature/SwallowsAndAmazons'' are also rather like this. They have no problem with the idea of sending their seven-to-twelve-year-old children off in small sailboats to camp on islands for days at a time. This, to an extent, is also ValuesDissonance.

* ComicBook/{{Robin|Series}} Tim Drake was the result of some incredibly hands off parenting by his globe trotting parents. They loved him, and he them, but he often didn't even know what country they were in and his father at least had no idea what his son even liked. This neglect enabled him to wander about Gotham as a kid and figure out ComicBook/{{Batman}} and Robin's identities, though presumably his parents assumed Tim was safe in one of the many boarding schools they consigned him to.

[[NewAgeRetroHippie Former hippies]] and romantics make irresponsible parents. As often as not, the parents may be rarely home: if there are any adult children, they're either similarly absent or in their 20s and insufficiently motivated to leave the house, which is a disaster zone without any discipline or structure to speak of. After all, who needs structure and discipline? It just stunts kids' growth.

* ''Film/MyLifeAsADog'': Uncle Gunnar was not expecting to have to raise children after Ingemar's parents were gone and he's extremely uncomfortable so he tends to keep his distance throughout much of the film only warming up to the boy near the end.

* Mr. and Mrs. Dunkel of ''WebComic/ElGoonishShive'' aren't exactly irresponsible as parents (though they do tend to be absent most of the time), but they definitely [[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2003-02-10 aren't very strict]]. A RunningGag with them is that they take the most bizarre things in perfect stride, such as when their daughter[[note]]who is an OppositeSexClone of their son and just came into their lives-and into ''existence''-at age 17[[/note]] [[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2010-03-12 turns herself into a cat]]. They don't seem to find this odd at all, and are only interested in whether or not she's able to turn back.

* Sadly, quite common amongst parents who feel that their own parents were too strict with them as a kid and thus will stand around whilst their children cause havoc in stores. [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome Kids who don't learn to respect authority or that actions have consequences very commonly get in trouble with the law when they get older]], [[MamaDidntRaiseNoCriminal with the parents often utterly surprised]].

* Mob's parents in the ''Manga/MobPsycho100'' gender swap fanfic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13226631/1/Shigeko-Kageyama-AKA-Mob Shigeko Kageyama AKA Mob]]''. As a girl Mob faces more scrutiny from her mother and she can't measure up. Her mother is both ashamed of how strange her daughter is and afraid of her because of her powers. Early in the store Mob's mother reaches her breaking point when she catches Mob and Ritsu fighting and she vents her frustrations at Mob. Mob then decides to run away from home and live with Reigen, a man that they have only met once before. As of the latest chapter her parents still have no intention of telling their daughter to come back home, or to parent Mob in any way, even after many people on the internet begin to speculate that Reigen's relationship with Mob may be inappropriate.

See also AdultsAreUseless, DisappearedDad, MissingMom, WhenYouComingHomeDad, FreeRangeChildren, HippieParents, MinorLivingAlone, NoFathersAllowed, ParentalAbandonment, and ParentalNeglect.

See also AdultsAreUseless, DisappearedDad, MissingMom, WhenYouComingHomeDad, FreeRangeChildren, HippieParents, MinorLivingAlone, NoFathersAllowed, ParentalAbandonment, PermissiveParenting and ParentalNeglect.

See also AdultsAreUseless, DisappearedDad, MissingMom, WhenYouComingHomeDad, FreeRangeChildren, HippieParents, MinorLivingAlone, NoFathersAllowed, ParentalAbandonment, and ParentalNeglect.

* [=MudWings=] in ''Literature/WingsOfFire'' don't raise their dragonets. They mate in groups, so [[MamasBabyPapasMaybe almost no dragons know who sired their kids]], and then they leave their eggs alone. The first hatchling has a natural BigBrotherInstinct. The siblings work together as a SiblingTeam with their "[=BigWing=]" sibling as their leader. Clay, who was raised in a cave until he was almost an adult, is very disappointed. He always dreamed of coming back to a family who missed him. While, it turns out that Clay is a [=BigWing=] himself, he had hoped to find his parents. When he meets his mother, she barely takes note of him. Clay is horrified to learn that Cattail [[spoiler:sold his egg for a couple of cattle, which they ended up just eating instead of breeding]]. By her logic, [[spoiler:he wasn't needed since she had six backup eggs anyway]].

* Sadly, quite common amongst parents who feel that their own parents were too strict with them as a kid and thus will stand around whilst their children cause havoc in stores. [[RealityEnsues Kids who don't learn to respect authority or that actions have consequences very commonly get in trouble with the law when they get older]], [[MamaDidntRaiseNoCriminal with the parents often utterly surprised]].

* ''Literature/{{Patternist}}'': {{Justified|Trope}} with the titular {{Telepath|y}}s, who can't bear to spend much time around children that haven't yet harnessed their powers. In ''Mind of my Mind'', the Patternists arrange MuggleFosterParents for their children, which becomes a dormitory system in ''Patternmaster'''s MagicalSociety.

Might be a consequence of a parent who is AllergicToRoutine or DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife. Polar opposite of MeddlingParents, OverprotectiveDad and MyBelovedSmother.

* ''VideoGame/{{Persona4}}'': The Protagonist's uncle doesn't take a great interest in what his nephew does outside of school as long as it doesn't put him in the path of his investigation into the odd serial murders that cropped up recently.
** It's not entirely clear either why the Protagonist's parents sent him to live with his uncle for a year outside of just working abroad.
* ''VideoGame/{{Persona5}}'': No clear reason is given for why the parents of the protagonist in this game so easily gave up their son for him to serve his probation in Tokyo instead of wherever he lived before [[spoiler: being set up to take the rap for a sexual assault by the same big-shot politician the protagonist fought off to protect an innocent woman]].
** Matter of fact, this applies to most of the parents of the Phantom Thieves. Ann's parents are famous fashion designers who are never around, Ryuji's stepfather is abusive, but his mother is decent, and he loves her very much; Futaba's guardian, while caring very much about her, has no idea how to help her deal with her {{Hikikomori}} issues and so just leaves food outside her bedroom door, and Haru's father is very much aloof and overly focused on running their family's fast-food conglomerate.

* In ''Roleplay/DawnOfANewAgeOldportBlues'', Lenore's parents are FormerTeenRebels who gave their daughter a lot of freedom growing up. This would eventually come back to bite them when Lenore became a punk herself and held little respect for their authority.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]