Growing up, the different parenting styles of my friends' parents were definitely interesting. Everyone had that one friend who was always able to do whatever they wanted: stay up late, eat ice cream, wear their Halloween costume to school in January. And then there was the flip side: the kids who weren't allowed to go to sleepovers, go trick or treating alone, or play certain video games. For me, my parents definitely fell in between. I was allowed to do many things, but I also had certain rules. I had to come home before it was dark, but I was allowed to play outside with my older brother and his friends. I could go over to friends' houses on the weekend, but I usually had a curfew.
Now, reading about these different parenting styles in psychology, I can definitely name my friends' parents' parenting style, and my own parents' style.
1. The friends who had SO many rules and little freedom had parents who were authoritarian. They were strict, sheltered their kids, and were the ones who always got grounded.
2. My friends who were allowed to do whatever they wanted had parents who were permissive. Their parents were lenient and the kids were allowed a lot of freedom.
3. My parents were the authoritative style. They supported me, but I also had certain rules to follow.
I think as a parent it would be difficult to give your child a lot of freedom, but hopefully when I have kids I will be able to see those boundaries and to be an authoritative parent, and not one of the other two. Understanding these parenting styles can help me in my future career as well. I want to be a teacher, and it is imperative that I know how kids are raised so that I can tailor my lesson plans and my classroom rules to their needs.
This is really interesting. For me, I have seen my parents show all three of these styles. They were really strict my junior and senior year in high school when it came to hanging out with friends and going to parties. On every other issue they fell in between. Nowadays when I go home, my parents are really lax and don't really care when or where I go.
I think this is really interesting as well. My parents definitely were very relaxed and I didn't have many rules to follow, and so I felt that my parents trusted me that I could make my own decisions, and the right ones. This style developed after having many rules when I was in elementary schools.
I find the idea of different parenting styles to be very unique. I apply it to my parents, where I feel like they were authoritative as well. What really interests me about this, though, is how to implement it. I plan on getting married and having children in the future, and I want to do my best to raise my children right. The fact that so many different parenting styles are out there worries me that I might end up doing the wrong one without realizing it. Other parents do it, after all, so why should I be the exception? Hopefully the theory of knowing about it should be enough to prevent it.