Parents influence their children using different specific practices, trying to guide, control, and socialize young generations. The parents’ attitudes to their kids create a certain emotional atmosphere, which is known as a “parenting style.” It is generally thought that the way of treatment has a crucial effect on the children’s development. The typology was first introduced by Diane Baumrind, who identified four styles of parental behavior: authoritarian, authoritative, permissive, and uninvolved or neglectful (Kuppens & Ceulemans, 2018). Each method of raising a child has its pros and cons, and, supposedly, can seriously impact a person’s future life.
Authoritarian way implies indisputable obedience, parents applying it “try to shape, control, and evaluate their children’s behavior based on the absolute set of standards” (Kuppens & Ceulemans, 2018, para. 6). Kids in such families tend to develop aggressive behavior and have increased risks to suffer from depression or low self-esteem. Authoritative style is “warmer and more autonomy granting than controlling” (Kuppens & Ceulemans, 2018, para. 6). It is aimed at encouraging children to be responsible, understand the reasons of rules, and make their own decisions. Kids in such an environment are usually well-behaved and show good performance at school, they are emotionally stable and successful in adapting to life in society. Permissive parenting suggests being always responsive and warm, and reluctant to establish rules. Children from such families tend to have behavior and emotional problems and show worse performance in studying. Uninvolved parenting offers their children little emotional support, favoring the appearance of various problems in the future, including criminal issues. Each of these approaches has its advantages, as well as negative consequences. A good parent needs to be careful in their decisions about raising children, admitting that all actions can influence their future life.
From personal experience, the parenting style in my family was more similar to the authoritarian. Parents always demanded order, and different punishments for disobedience were used. It resulted in good behavior in public, but problems with emotional control at home. In the future, it had a consequence of low self-esteem and difficulties with making important decisions, as there is always a feeling of uncertainty. Without a doubt, a type of parenting has a huge impact on the future life of children. However, it seems that no right way for raising a child exists, as any wrong deed can seriously influence their destiny.
Reference
Kuppens, S., & Ceulemans E. (2018). Parenting styles: A closer look at a well-known concept. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 28(1), 168–181.