The balancing act of parenting

Does parenting influences the way children develop? This is a question that many people, especially psychologists, are still trying to answer since children that are raised in different environments can have similar characteristics as well as the ones that grow up together and become very different.

Psychologists have collected some data and have created what we know as parenting styles. Some parents might think that the best way to educate their children is through warm and responsiveness while others might think that to explain their rules to children might be just a waste of time.

In general, there are four main parenting styles:

Authoritarian:

Children are asked to follow strict rules and are not able to question anything their parents tell them to do, the famous “because I say so” answer from parents to any question that the kid ask and punishment is the typical consequence of any rule that was not followed; rules that are never fully explained.

Authoritative:

This parenting style is similar to the authoritarian but a little bit more balanced, even if rules are expected to be followed by the children, parents are also a little bit more open to answer questions about why the rules are demanded so kids can understand them. Cause and effect are also experienced in the authoritative style but instead of the use of punishment, parents are more nurturing since they are more interested in what the kids learn from their failures.

Permissive:

Permissive parents hardly demand anything from their kids and since their expectations are very low, their form of discipline is very mild. This parenting style believes in self-control and communication but the problem could be that children tend to see their parents more as friends that a parent figure to whom they should respect and obey.

Uninvolved:

This would be the contrast to the authoritarian parents, uninvolved parenting style can be very destructive since not only parents do not set rules that their children most follow but they have little or no communication with their kids, and uninvolved parents are completely detached neglecting all aspects of their children’s’ lives.

Parenting styles definitely impact the way any child develops social and emotionally, as authoritative parents can set limits and enforce consequences, authoritarian parents can become bossy and emotionally aloof.

It is in your hands as a parent to help your child be able to have a healthy social development,

most of the time, parents do not fall in just one of the parenting styles, they might be authoritarian in some cases and very uninvolved in others; bottom line, your parenting styles would express your beliefs about how to be a good or bad parent and most of us just want to be good parents.

None of the four styles are perfect; as children from authoritarian parents can grow up with low self-esteem, also can kids from uninvolved parents so our main goal in parenting should definitely be to raise our kids under a balanced parenting style where they can develop mentally and emotionally and have the chance to become independent, happy and successful adults.

#parenting