Parenting Styles:Which One is Best for Your Child?

Having  seven years of parenting experience of two kids, i cannot say that i have mastered parenting task. Because parenting is a hard job, damn hard. I am totally confused and doubt my parenting style sometimes. And i wish there were books like:"Sure-shot Guide to Successful Parenting ". I researched about different  parenting styles that i am going to talk about.

 

Happy kids

 Researchers have discovered four types of parenting styles.

Authoritative:

In this parenting style,

·        Clear rules are set and there is high expectation from the child.

·        Still parents value their child’s feelings and are supportive.

·        They try to make positive relationship with the children.

·        It can be said democratic style.

Effect :

·        High academic performance and more self –esteem is found in children.

·        Children have better social skills.

Authoritarian:

·        There are strict rules and high expectations.

·        Parents are unresponsive to child’s feeling and they demand blind obedience.

Effect:

·        Children raised this way have low academic performance and low self-esteem.

·        They have poor social skills and may involve in drug/alcohol abuse.

Permissive:

·        There are few or no rules and obedience in not compulsory.

·        There is little interference from the parent.

Effect:

·        The kids tend to struggle academically.

·        Kids may exhibit behavioral problems.

·        They have poor social skills and might have problematic relationship.

Neglectful:

·         There are no rules, no expectations and parents are indifferent to child’s need and emotions.

·        Parents are uninvolved in children’s activities.

Effect:

·        Children struggle with self -esteem issues.

·        They perform poorly in school.

·        They exhibit frequent behavioral problems.

·        They rank low in happiness.

Psychologists say that authoritative (Democratic) parenting style is the best for the overall development of your child. It is indeed true. My parenting style is democratic one.I  try to be friendly with my kids but still there are some "rules of mommy" that they have to follow. Sometimes my way of parenting works and sometime the kids would be tough  to handle. At times,one kid would be really good and the other one would challenge me.So i identified that i have to handle each child differently.

It should be kept in mind that every parent child relationship is different,so there is no single perfect way of parenting. A proper parenting style and good parenting practices  is needed for raising mentally healthy and happy kids.

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