Parenting was an instinctive process for most of human history, but in today’s environment, parents want to know how to parent. Many individuals approach parenting in the same way they do school and work: by following a manual. As indicated by the never-ending lists of parenting books and websites, child development and psychology has become a lucrative field. We want to know how to raise our children, but we need someone to show us how.
Since Dr. Benjamin Spock’s groundbreaking work Baby and Child Care made parenting tactics and child development prominent in the 1940s, there have been a plethora of ways pushed for raising your children. However, many child psychologists have agreed in the last ten years that parenting styles can be divided into three categories: authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive. Let’s look at the qualities of these parenting methods to obtain a better understanding of how to parent and the various styles available:
Authoritative/democratic: Authoritative parents are concerned with achieving a healthy balance: they want their children to be well-adjusted, hardworking, and educated. They do, however, want to ensure that their children enjoy their life in addition to learning to be regimented and well-behaved. The importance of blending discipline and boundaries with love and warmth is emphasized by authoritative parents. They value their children’s feelings and opinions, but they are the ones who make the final decisions. They do not act as children’s friends or masters either.
Authoritarian parents use discipline and order to establish an efficient family, but an authoritarian family is not a democracy: children simply do what they are told. The authoritarian household is governed by a definite set of rules and regulations, and these parents think that children can only mature correctly if they are firmly regulated.
Permissive parents: Permissive parents let their children take the wheel. They do not like to build a hierarchy of authority since they believe that all members of the family are equal. Permissive parents believe that their children should be able to make their own decisions, so they avoid interfering by establishing discipline or boundary structures. They want their children to have a strong feeling of self-worth and self-esteem as they grow up, and they believe that harsh punishment hinders this process.
Choosing the parenting styles is all depends on how your life is. Many child psychologists believe that authoritative parenting results in the healthiest children because it is all about achieving balance. Authoritarian parenting focuses too much on discipline, while permissive parenting focuses too much on fostering self-worth and individuality, and both techniques can lead children low self-esteem.