Parenting Styles
If being a daughter or son seems difficult, I cannot imagine been a parent. Being a parent can be one of the most difficult jobs because nobody instructs us how to raise an intelligent and courteous child. Many parents want their child to be better than they were. Therefore, parents try hard to not make the mistakes that their parents made. However, in some situations some parents overprotect their child and others simply leave their child, so they can take their own decisions. It means that every single parent chooses to raise his or her child in different ways. As a result parents fall into four different parenting styles: authoritarian parenting, authoritative parenting, permissive parenting and uninvolved parenting.
Authoritarian parents are the ones who are really strict with their child. They have all the power over the child, and they can be very controlling. This type of parents normally uses drastic techniques to educate their child such as physical punishment instead of an explanation. This type of parents simply suffocates the child and prohibits them from developing their independence. The results of this type of treatment lead to a child’s being unhappy, aggressive, and low on self-esteem, as well as having poor social skills. For example, if the children of an authoritarian parent are fighting about which TV channel to watch, the parent will normally say, “Turn the TV off and not more TV for the rest of the week.” Commonly, the children will not ask why because the most common answer they will receive will be, “Because I said so.” This type of answer may work only for a short period of time because after a while, some children will become disobedient due to the lack of understanding why they should not behave certain way. The next parenting style is authoritative parents. This type of parents also establishes rules as well as the authoritarian parents, but the difference between those two is that authoritarian parents give explanations to their children when they do not give them permission. They are also open to their child for any type of question, and they are willing to have a communication with their child. Authoritarian parents teach their child to be honest, respectful, and responsible by applying rules and discipline when necessary. However, this type of parents expects their child to be mature enough for any situation as well to earn good grades in school. Children with this type of parents tend to be more independent as they get older, with high self-esteem, and more confident with their skills. If we stick with the same example of the children fighting to watch different TV channel, in this situation authoritative parents will act differently. They instead will say, “You have two options either to make an agreement to share the TV or turn it off now.” In this case, parents help their children to work out for a solution. Another example will be, in the morning when the mom is doing breakfasts; she can ask her child what he/she wants to eat either pancakes or french toast. This will make the child see that he/she has choices in his/her life and has some power to make decisions. Another group of parenting style is permissive parents. Most children will prefer to have this type of parents now that they technically give the control to their children by giving the children many different choices. This type of parents also gives everything to their child even if the child behaves well or not. Most of the time, some parents had made a mistake in the child’s early life, and they feel guilty for their mistake; therefore, they become permissive parents in order to fix what they had done wrong by not punishing their child in any type of circumstance and buying everything their child wants. Consequently, to this type of treatment children normally become a person without self-discipline. Teenagers that have this type of parents are more likely to get involved in alcoholism and