Many adults who have succeeded later in their life attributed their accomplishments by the way their parents reared them. The same as well for those who have not been fortunate regarded it by the poor care they got when they were still growing. Studies have showed that parenting styles employed determine the future lives of children. Their future accomplishments are being influenced by the way they are nurtured.
Parenting refers to the process of promoting and supporting the physical, emotional, social, and cognitive development of a child as he progresses the stages in life. A parenting style is a paradigm representing standard approaches that parent’s use in their child-rearing practices. Parents may vary their styles of child rearing, depending on several factors such as culture, family type and environment, and these may evolve over a period of time as the child moved through life’s phase. Parenting style is influenced by both parents’ and children’s disposition and personality.
There are three known styles of parenting often cited in books. These are:
1. Authoritative style. Parents implementing this style provide comprehensible expectations and consequences and are demonstrative of their feelings toward his or her child. The authoritative parent is flexible and collaborates with the child in solving problems dealing with behaviors. This is the most recommended type of parenting style.
2. Authoritarian style. This style of child rearing is demanding but not responsive. Parents employing this style show little affection toward his or her child. This is a less effective form of parenting.
3. Permissive style. This form of parenting style is also known as indulgent. Parents are more responsive or affectionate but provide poor discipline. They tend to be more lenient. This parenting style is deemed to be ineffective too.
A child’s well-being is found to be significantly influenced by the type of parenting style practiced. Its major impact is seen in academic performance, psychosocial development, social aptitude and behavioral challenges. A number of studies on parenting style identified authoritative parents to be the most effective in bringing intellectual and social competence and low behavioral issues to both boys and girls across the life span. However, despite intensive and robust researches made on the topic, a number of issues still remain. There are still other environmental or societal and biological factors that are yet to be correlated to these parenting styles to prove its universal applicability.