Helicopter parenting does not produce nerds. Nerds are people who love something so much they learn all about it and are totally engrossed by it
(defnition by Wil Wheaton at some convention). Parents can push you, but they can't push you into true nerd-dom. My personal corollary: to be a true nerd, there has to be a large element of inutility in the subject. Klingon translator does not land you jobs. I'm a little bit of a weather nerd; the weather in Montgomery County on December 20th was high 35, low of 19, sunset at 4:48. I wouldn't want them walking home in the dark, without winter jackets, and unable to describe which way home was. Assuming the kids had jackets on and it was daylight, and they knew the route, somebody needs to take a chill pill.