Four Main Styles of Parenting

• Post Time - 2021-04-29 12:14:17

Regardless of your age, culture, upbringing, the number of kids you have or their ages, all types and systems of parenting fall under these Four Main Styles of Parenting;

• Authoritarian or Disciplinary Parenting Style

• Authoritative Parenting Style

• Uninvolved Parenting Style 

• Permissive Parenting Style

Researchers have grouped all types of parenting in these main styles, having documented the reaction of parents to the same pace and challenges of development their kids go through. People facing the same problems and incidents tend to show off their differences, but also tend to react similarly in some way.

As your child grows, you will start noticing from the way you deal with him what type of a parent you are. As soon as your baby turns 3 and becomes a toddler who has developed a certain attitude and set of habits, your will personality as a parent will start shaping up, affected largely by your experience from parents around you and you nature as a person as well.

For some moms and dads, their parenting style continues to be the same as their children grow. But for some, they stop and evaluate the outcome of the parenting system they adopted and sometimes they decide to take different paths if the outcome is not very promising or has affected their kids badly.

Parenting styles explained:

1- Authoritarian Parenting Style

An Authoritarian parent tends to expect too much of the child, tying him or her to very strict rules, expecting them to follow them all without any shortcoming. For discipline is perhaps far more important than a child’s feelings or emotions. 

Also an authoritarian parent is somehow unrealistic in his expectations, wanting his or her toddler to clean up after eating, playing without creating any mess and laughing without having to scream or speak with a loud voice.

Explaining the basics of good behaviour to our kids is important, but we also need to know what to expect of every age to be able to evaluate our kids’ behaviour correctly.

• Benefits of Authoritarian Parenting Style

It teaches the kid to know that in life there are rules we need to adapt to and respect and that as he grows he needs to refine his attitude in a certain manner. THis is perhaps the only and only benefit of Authoritarian Parenting Style.

• Drawbacks of Authoritarian Parenting Style

Drawbacks or disadvantages of Authoritarian parenting Style are quite many, among them is that they create an angry child who feels his opinion is never valued or taken into consideration. Also it detaches the kid from his Authoritarian parent, as he knows that there is no room for negotiation about any matter as long as the parent is going to enforce his opinion and law no matter what. 

2. Authoritative Parenting Style     

Opposite to the Authoritarian Parenting, Authoritative Parenting entails showing more care and listening more to children while showing at the same time that you, as a parent are in control and have the final word.

An Authoritative Parent is somewhat more tender and caring than An Authoritarian Parent, who just set strict rules and hinders any attempt of the child to negotiate or question such rules.

An Authoritative parent does show care and understanding of a kids needs and opinion, however sets clear rules and is consistent. This makes a child know that his parent is in control yet makes him love his parent too as he doesn’t feel him oppressive or too strict. An authoritative parent provides reasons and explains why things should go in a particular way, without answering the kid’s questioning with slogans such as “because I said so!”

So if Authoritarian Parenting Style is to be described as “Dictator” Authoritative Parenting Style can be described as “Democratic”!

An Authoritative Parenting style is kind a Parent-Child partnership to make the Parent- Child relationship flourish and succeed with the best results possible. It’s a win- win kind of system in which a parent manages to get the child behave well without being too oppressive and thus hated. As for the child it is also a rewarding sestet of parenting where the child’s voice is also hear dan this emotions are taken into consideration.

• Advantages of Authoritative Parenting Style:

In fact this particular parenting style is full of advantaged simply because it is a balanced system of parenting that has little or no bad consequences for the parent or child. Also it is has long proved to be the most successful style of parenting.

• Disadvantages of Authoritative Parenting Style:

Although it almost has no disadvantages at all, its only drawback is putting some kind o pressure or load on the parent to always come up with solutions, answers and find a way of explaining to the child why a matter should go in a particular way or another, without setting strict rule and closing the discussion. So it needs patience and diplomacy, but it’s by all means rewarding and worths the effort.

3- Permissive Parenting Style

As for Permissive Parenting Style it is a kind of parenting where a parent doesn’t try and impose any rules on the child or try to regulate his behaviour what so ever. In this parenting system a child acts and is treated as peer to his father or mother. A permissive kind of a parent fail to impose any regulation on the child so as not to be seen as oppressive and leaves the child to act according to his own thinking and choices without any intervention from his side.

• Advantages of a Permissive Parenting Style

Well, it’s kind of heaven to the child as he enjoys full freedom to do things his own way and at his own convenience without having to take into consideration what his parents will do or react. But at the core this kind of parenting style fails to have any advantages as it is not considered a kind of parenting. Parenting involves serving the well-being of the child and coaching him to develop good set of skills and habits, while helping him giving up other bad or harmful ones.

• Disadvantages of a Permissive Parenting Style

In fact a Permissive Parenting System is full of disadvantages to both a parent and a child, such as:

1- It ruins a parent- child relationship as it pushes the child to not respect his parent and causes the parent to forget his true authority.

2- It doesn’t raise a child who’s well-behaved or pays attention to rules or regulations.

3- It raises a child that’s stubborn and largely aggressive as he grows up to be a person who doesn’t abide by any rules or authority to be imposed upon him.

4- It fails to put a pattern for a child’s life such as setting a schedule for his sleep, playing time, studying and the like.

4- Uninvolved Parenting Style

 An uninvolved parenting style or neglectful parenting style involved lack of engagement or the parent at all. An uninvolved parent pays no attention the child’s behaviour or needs. He is not involved at all. For example. an uninvolved parent fails to follow on his child development at school or pays attention to his nutrition system or cares whether a child has good or bad friends or doesn’t even have friends whatsoever.

Such parenting style is the worse of all and doesn’t even worth more shedding light on.

A balanced style of parenting, that is best representative of a parent’s culture and personality as well as the child personality is sure the best way to be followed and is the one expected to bring the best results possible. A parent should apply a balanced manner of imposing rules and authority and listening to the child’s needs as well, as to be not too dictator nor too lenient.

 Maha Youssuf

Mamas’ Guides Editor