Parenting styles

Parenting Styles of Reasons to Become a Parent While debates continue on the importance of becoming a parent, the side of the debate that supports parenting is far much ahead in the debates, given the many benefits and joy one gets from being a parent. Many stakeholders in the discipline of psychological development assert that although certain despairs may accompany parenthood, one simply needs to remind himself/herself of the myriad benefits, pleasures, and proud moments that come with parenting. In fact, parenting is not only important to children but also to the society, since it ensures that children are transformed into responsible and productive people in the society (Brooks, 2011 P. 11). The excitement that accompanies parenthood makes it incomparable to any other events or experiences in life. Regardless of one’s levels of frustrations in life, children and parenting will always be a source of indefinite love, making it important that one appreciates every opportunity at parenthood. Parenting gives parents not only the opportunity to possess powers over their children but also makes them possess hitherto unachieved levels of tolerance and self-esteem. In this regard, parenting makes one realize and recognize his/her abilities in ways never imaged or thought before. For instance, one may come to appreciate his/her abilities to shape and influences other peoples’ lives through parenting (Brooks, 2011 P. 3). Executing parental duties is therefore a privilege that one should enjoy and it is for the above reasons that I would become a parent.
Duties of a Parent
Although parents have quite a number of duties and responsibilities as far as bringing up their children is concerned, some of the parental duties are more crucial to the life a child than others are. One such parenting job is to train the children to be obedient to the society by breaking them of their wills. It is not the role of a parent to please a child by allowing the child’s will to prevail. Instead, a parent should train his/her child to follow the will not only of the parent but also of the authorities and society. Allowing a child to follow his/her wish and resolve only results in disobedience. Parents should therefore instill in their children, the excellence of obedience and how it pleases the parent, community, the government, and God to be obedient (Brooks, 2011 P. 8). The other crucial job for parents is to keep their children as far away from evil company as possible. In fact, bad company is one of the most undoing dangers to children in the modern society, both at home and at school. Parents must therefore allot time to educate their children on good company at home and at school. In addition, parents watch over their children and charge them to only associate with the best characters in their environment.
Parenting Styles
Recent researches on parenting have unearthed certain links between different styles of parenting and their effects on children. The main components that differentiate one parenting style from another include warmth and nurturance, communication styles, expectations on control and maturity, and the disciplinary strategies employed. The four major categorization of parenting styles, based on two major dimensions of demandingness and responsiveness are the authoritarian, the authoritative, uninvolved, and permissive parenting (Brooks, 2011). In the authoritarian approach to parenting, parents demand that children follow the strict rules established by the parents. In case a child fails to adhere to these rules, they are punished without any explanation or reasoning from the parents. On the other hand, authoritative parenting entails parenting with established rules/guidelines for children to follow. This latter style is a bit more democratic compared to the former style in that parents using this style are more responsive to the will, needs, and questions raised by their children (Brooks, 2011). Suppose a child fails to meet the set standards, the parents are quite nurturing and forgiving, and give less severe punishments. In a situation where a parent has few if any demands on his/her children, the parenting style is referred to as permissive parenting. Instead, such parents are found to be quite responsive to their children’s needs. Moreover, they nontraditional, lenient, allow considerable self-regulation, and avoid confrontation. Finally, the uninvolved parenting style, characterized by few demands, low responsiveness, and little communication with children is perhaps the most inappropriate type of parenting. From the discussion on the styles of parenting, the best style should result from a combination of the authoritative and the authoritarian approaches to parenting. While the former results in happy, capable and successful children, the latter approach leads to proficient and obedient children whose lack of happiness is accounted for by complementing with the authoritative style of parenting (Brooks, 2011). Since the permissive style leads to lowly ranked self-regulation and happiness in children, a combination of the authoritarian and the authoritative styles is always recommended for effective parenting.
Reference
Brooks, J. B. (2011). The process of parenting (8th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.