Authoritative Parenting – The Four Styles Of Parenting
Authoritative Parenting – How Do We Parent Our Children?
Children that are raised in the same house, with the same parents, using the same style of parenting, have been know to grown up to have completely different personalities. Yet researches have found links between the different parenting styles and what effect these styles have on our kids. As well as authoritative parenting, we shall take a look at 4 very different parenting styles.
Authoritative Parenting – The Four Styles of Parenting
Authoritarian Parenting
Often confused with authoritative parenting. Authoritarian parents expect their children to follow their rules completely blind. They expect the child to obey all commands without any explanation. If a child does not completely follow the rules then this will be met with swift punishment. Parents who follow the authoritarian style do not explain to their child the purpose of these rules and why they are there. If a child questions a parent, this would be met with a reply similar to, “because I am the mummy, not you.”
Authoritative Parenting
It is important that authoritative parenting styles are not confused with authoritarian parenting styles. There is a huge difference between these two styles even though in some respects the two styles are linked. Unlike authoritarian parenting, authoritative parenting examples include when the parent is much more responsive to the child. The parents are much more willing to listen to the child and will make time available to explain why the rules are there. Authoritative parents are much more loving when rules are broken. Rather than administering harsh punishments the parents will listen and explain tthe problem and handle the child’s discipline in a much more loving way.
Uninvolved Parenting
Uninvolved parenting style is where the parent is simply there to fulfil only the basic requirement of the child. Even this may sometimes not be the case, leaving the child neglected and rejected.
Permissive Parenting
Permissive parenting is when the parent tries to be more like a best friend to the child rather than a parent. They are extremely lenient and have little or no rules. The parents allow the child to almost parent themselves.
Authoritative Parenting – Conclusion
It is now widely accepted that the best style of parenting is authoritative parenting. As our children grow up lots of external factors outside our control can effect our children. This would go some way to explain why some children who grew up in the same home, grow to be completely different in terms of personality and how they conduct themselves as adults. However, it is still important to realise that, as parents, we are the biggest influence on our children, and it is important that we bring up our children in the best way that we can. Authoritative parenting will help us to achieve that.
Authoritative Parenting – Parenting Styles
Authoritative Parenting – Conventional and Modern Parenting
What suits some families or some children may not be suitable for others. All models of parenting, including authoritative parenting, are between the styles of authoritarian and permissive . The particular style that a parent employs depends, in some part at least, how they themselves were brought up. Even if parents didn’t like the way they were raised, some influences from their parents, still tend to be present. Parents who put importance on their child’s physical well been may tend to be more authoritarian, while parents who are concerned with intellectual development might encourage their children to join up with extra activities in addition to their normal school work. This may include activities such as learning to play an instrument, art lessons or even playing in a sports team.
Authoritative Parenting – The Opposite End Of The Scale
Permissive parenting methods are a direct opposite to authoritative parenting. This type of parenting allows all control to be given to the child. Parents make few rules and those they do make are usually not enforced. The parents who follow this style of parenting say they want their children to feel free.
Permissive parenting examples include no boundaries being set and parents behaving in a warm loving way however the child behaves. Some extreme example of this parenting style include letting their preteen sons or daughters drink and smoke without any parental intervention. It is important to realise that these parents do love their child but they want a relationship with them as a peer. They believe that this will produce a greater and lasting bond to their son or daughter. If a parent does need to act they often use methods such as bribery to tempt the child into doing as asked. Often the child will soon learn how they can manipulate their parents into getting what they want and will use these tactics at any given opportunity. No such problems occur with authoritative parenting styles.
Authoritative Parenting – How It Works
Authoritative parenting is sometimes referred to as Democratic Parenting. With the authoritative parenting style, parents expect their their child to obey rules and directions 100%. Authoritative parenting examples are when the parents try to assist their child to learn to be responsible for themselves and to think about the consequences of their actions. They monitor their child’s behavior to ensure that their rules are being followed through. Parents put emphasis on reinforcing their child’s good behavior rather than emphasizing the bad. If a child does something wrong, an authoritative parent will try to reason out what the problem is and may even engage in conversation with the child to help them understand the consequences of their actions.
Kids that are raised in the authoritative parenting style are much much more likely to be successful at school and become socially accepted more readily. There are also figures from studies into authoritative parenting that suggest depression and anxiety are much less likely to effect these children in adulthood. Reports do tend to suggest that this style of parenting is beneficial to kids from any ethnic background. Authoritative parenting is widely believed to be the healthiest and well balanced of all the parenting styles.
