Every week on Dr. Phil there is always at least one mother who cannot seem to handle her child. Majority of the time, this mother usually parents permissively. Something else we see constantly on TV shows are authoritarian parents who do not let their children do anything. This usually provides great plot lines, since the child typically rebels, adding drama. Clearly, anyone can see that both of these parenting styles can backfire. Something our textbook mentions is that child temperament could influence parenting styles. This made me curious because, considering this is the case, why do parents consistently struggle with their children? Parents should be able to tell from infancy what kind of attitude their child has. For example, if they have an easy baby, chances are they will not have to be as strict, therefore making a permissive parenting style acceptable. The same thing goes for authoritarian parents: if they have a fussy baby who gets into things, chances are they will need to be stricter than a parent with an easy baby. In my opinion, I think that parents make the mistake of deciding a parenting style before they get to know what their child is going to be like. I think parents fail to realize that every child is different, and therefore the way they were raised may not be the best method for raising their own. I agree with the idea that a child's disposition influences the way his or her parents raise them, and I feel that if more parents recognized this, they may have an easier time raising their children.
Parenting Styles - Which one is best?
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Watching the TV show "Supernanny" you see a lot of different parenting styles, and what works/doesn't work. Usually, before "super nanny" steps in, the parents don't punish bad behavior (usually ignore it). The nanny usually creates a system of punishment (non-physical) to encourage good behavior. Generally, I think it can be concluded that kids can be taught good behavior by using some form of punishment. They associate bad behavior with the punishment, so they will tend to behave well for rewards instead.
I definitely agree with you, but I'm not sure if parents can always tell what type of parenting they will have to do by the way their baby acts. Kids change as they get older, especially throughout their teens where they can become quite a pain in the butt. I think parents have to adapt as their kids change.
I thought this blog post was very interesting because I never thought of parenting styles this way. It's cool to know that you can figure out how a baby will be when they grow up in terms of parenting styles. My mom told me that I was an easy baby and so now that i'm an adult, I don't need to be punished or have strict rules. Also another interesting fact was that kids behavior could cause problems in adults and parents behavior.
I think like it depends on the child it also depends on the parents. I agree with the statement, "I think that parents make the mistake of deciding a parenting style before they get to know what their child is going to be like" but could another reason be their parenting styles reflect how they were parented, that some people don't know how else to parent? Just something I think is interesting to think about.
I found this very interesting, because of myself personally. I have an older sister and both her and I were raised under the same rules and guidance. However, she was the one who tended to rebel, and I on the other hand never had any problems with my mom and openly talked to her about everything. I do agree that every child may have different needs and also attitudes, and that a parent may have to respond more to how the child is then who they want them to be.