Most Popular Parenting Styles
Preparing for a new born at home involves a lot of emotional thought. A couple expecting their first child may be very excited and also confused as to how to handle the newly born. Parenting is a huge responsibility and plays a vital role in the upbringing of the child therefore many researches were made on the different parenting approaches and different parenting styles. The parenting styles can broadly be classified as three: authoritarian parenting, permissive parenting and authoritative parenting.
Authoritarian Parenting Style
Authoritarian Parenting is the kind of parenting style that was mostly prevalent in the ancient times. The authoritarian parents are ones who have high expectations, talk much about discipline, are strict and in some cases over protective. They give little importance to what the child or children have to say. This parenting style results in the child become very adamant, low in self confidence, less creative and tuned to act as per instructions. This parenting style may also result in the child developing negative traits such as being disrespectful, abusive or indulging in other anti-social acts.
Permissive Parenting Style
Permissive Parenting is one of the different parenting approaches that best suits for encouraging creativeness and spontaneity in children. Parents using this parenting approach give importance to the reasons and thoughts of the children. They are patient enough to understand the child’s difficulty and also encourage their decisions. This parenting style helps boost the confidence levels of the child and also the decision making capabilities. Permissive parents are very supportive towards their children. Permissive parenting is not advisable for aggressive children. This parenting approach sometimes disables the judgment capabilities of children i.e they may not be able to make the right decisions.
Authoritative Parenting Style
Authoritative Parenting is a mix of both Authoritarian Parenting and Permissive Parenting styles. Authoritative Parenting is usually mistaken for Authoritarian Parenting but both are two different parenting styles. Authoritative Parents are neither very authoritative nor permissive. They listen to the child’s reasons and thoughts and guide them in the right manner. This parenting approach allows parents to understand their child very well as this enables them to talk and discuss all the issues pertaining to their child. Authoritative Parents maintain a friendly relationship with their children and encourage them in every stride of life. They also keep the authority of controlling the child when going in a wrong direction. This Parenting approach is said to be the best of all the three parenting styles.
Which Parenting Style Should You Adopt
Parenting is a continuous process till the child is mature enough to understand and handle the ways and means of life independently. Couples turning parents usually use the techniques that were followed by their parents or near ones. Parenting is usually influenced by the lifestyle of the parents, the traditions and rituals of the family, the social status etc. Most importantly the style of parenting needs to be chosen keeping in view the behavioral traits of the child.
No parent can maintain a single parenting style. Parenting keeps changing as per the age, actions and understanding of the child. The best parenting style is the one where you are able to understand your child completely and are able to guide him/her towards a better life.