Parenting styles

Being a parent is the most beautiful, but also a very demanding role. Every good parent wants to give his or her child a happy childhood. The early social development of a child is strongly influenced by parental attitudes on upbringing and their upbringing procedures. Two dimensions of parenting are important for a child’s development. 

First, PARENTAL WARMTH – refers to the love, support, and encouragement that a parent provides to his or her child. The second dimension is PARENTAL SUPERVISION – it refers to discipline, management, and encouragement that a parent provides to their child. The combination of warmth and supervision gives 4 basic parenting styles:

• AUTHORITATIVE PARENTS – parents who are high on the dimension of warmth and supervision. This means that these parents are caring and attentive to their children, but they also set clear boundaries of what a child can and cannot do. This style of parenting has the most positive effect on a child’s early social development. Children of such parents are mostly curious, confident, independent, and often graduate from college. 

• AUTHORITARIAN PARENTS – parents who are low on warmth dimension and high on supervision dimension. They firmly control their children and demand unconditional obedience, often forcing their children to do something by threatening or punishing them. Most children do not respond well to this style of parenting. They are often easily upset, aggressive and / or show behavioural problems. 

• PERMISSIVE PARENTS – parents who are high on warmth dimension and low on supervision dimension. Their control of the child’s behaviour is minimal. These parents are full of love and attention but set little limits on the child’s behaviour. They accept and encourage their children, but often the children of such parents are similar to the children of authoritarian parents – immature and out of control. 

• UNINVOLVED PARENTS – parents who are low on both warmth and supervision dimensions. They set little limits on their children and give them little attention and support. Such a style of parenting does not encourage a healthy social development of a child. Children of such parents are mostly demanding and disobedient; they do not play with their peers. 

As we can conclude, the best parenting style is an authoritative style in which a child receives all the necessary love and attention, but also knows how to behave in all situations. It is most important for children to feel loved and accepted, but they must know and understand the rules of behaviour.

In addition, children need to believe that their parents will demand that they follow them, i.e. that their parents are their role models. 

“Affirming words from moms and dads are like light switches. Speak a word of affirmation at the right moment in a child’s life and it is like lighting up a whole roomful of possibilities.” – Gary Smalley 

“Smart people allow their children to sometimes make mistakes.” – Mahatma Gandhi 

“The best inheritance a parent can give his children is a few minutes of his time each day.” – O. A. Battista 

“Parenting is not a job. It is an adventure!” – unknown author