Variety of Parenting Styles - Essay Example

I think the authoritative parenting style is the most appropriate one of all parenting styles. Parents need to be demanding as well as responsive depending on the situation. The permissive parenting style is only responsive and lacks authority and confrontation. The authoritarian parenting style, on the other extreme, is extremely demanding and lacks responsiveness. It’s almost barbaric. The authoritative parenting style combines the two styles and hence allows the children some degree of freedom, yet regulates them when required.

Authoritative parents provide their children with warmth, attention, and autonomy, yet they set limits and are demanding. They encourage their child to be independent and individualistic. They also engage in discussion and explanations over matters of discipline and family decision-making, thus parents listen patiently to a child's point of view as well as provide sensitive guidance. Authoritative parenting is effective in shaping a child's cognition. It is associated with task persistence, academic achievement, social maturity, high self-esteem and confidence, self-controlled in their ability to resist engaging in disruptive behaviour, and less gendered type. Children are competent, responsible, and independent. Authoritative parenting also encourages intrinsic motivation (Alarcon).

Authoritarian parents set high standards, place a high value on conformity, and expect obedience without any questions or comments. They are demanding and unresponsive to a child's needs. The authoritarian parenting approach affects a child's cognition negatively. Children who are consistently treated in an authoritarian way tend to be withdrawn, rebellious, and unhappy, have low self-esteem, are anxious, lack intellectual curiosity, and react to others with hostility when frustrated. Permissive parents are warm and accepting, but make no demands or set limits on their children. Since they are non-controlling, these parents allow their children to regulate their behaviour. They allow their children to make their own decisions at any age. This parenting approach affects a child's cognition negatively. Children of permissive parents tend to be immature, impulsive, underachievers, rebellious, have low self-esteem, are dependent on adults, and showed less persistence in school tasks (Alarcon).

Through various research and studies, it has been discovered that children subject to authoritative parenting styles are securely attached to their parents. On the other hand, children subject to authoritarian or permissive parenting styles are insecurely attached or detached from their parents. A child who is securely attached to the parents has a great deal of autonomy, effective sharing, cognitive flexibility, problem-solving ability and perseverance. All of these outcomes indicate that secure attachment results in a healthy family and peer relationships as well as high self-esteem for the child. Conversely, children who are insecurely attached become emotionally isolated from both family and peers and seldom have stable interpersonal relationships or a good self-concept (Neal and Frick).

A two-parent family is more complete and advantageous than a family with a single parent. It has been observed that a two-parent family is healthier as well as wealthier than a single-parent family. A two-parent family tends to have a more positive effect on children’s emotional and social behaviour as compared to a single-parent family. However, assistance from grandparents and daycare can be a boon to single parents. Such assistance is beneficial to couples too. Grandparents and daycare greatly help parents relax and in turn help them focus better on their children. Even though parents are usually of the opinion that grandparents tend to spoil their grandchildren, grandparents’ love and affection are an essential part of childhood.