In theory, there are only four styles of parenting.
- Authoritarian parents are controlling and demand obedience without considering the child’s point of view.
- Permissive parents are loving, but don’t exert any control. There are no rules.
- Authoritative parents are firm but loving. They encourage independence, within limits.
- Neglecting parents are uninvolved and often uninterested in their own child.
Recently a 5th style was proposed, but we will come back to that later.
The styles range from controlling and demanding, to complete freedom; and from cold and unresponsive to loving and receptive. Each, authoritative, permissive, authoritarian and neglectful parents, have their place.
To understand what it means to grow up with parents from each end of the spectrum, we can imagine the lives of four children.
Sara’s parents are authoritarian. They love their girl, but they believe that strict rules are important to make Sara become well behaved and fit into the society.
If Sara cries, she’s told to stop. If she talks back, she is sent to the corner for timeout. If she forgets to take care of her chores around the house, she is not allowed to play with her toys.
Sara learns that suppressing her emotions and following her duties is the way to get through the day. To get the love of her parents, and to avoid making them upset, she becomes obedient.
However, because Sara was never allowed to decide for herself or follow her intrinsic interests, as an adult, she doesn’t know what she really wants. She begins living a life that seems perfect to her parents and society, but might leave her unhappy on the inside.
Permissive parents, like those of Peter, love their little boy so much that they believe they should fulfill all his wishes, give him full freedom and never say “no”.
Peter enjoys full control over his parents and gets whatever he wants. If he doesn’t want to walk, he’ll be carried. If he wants ice-cream, ice-cream he gets. If he wants to play games, he’ll be playing them all night.
Peter grows up completely without borders and does whatever he thinks is right. He never coped with conflict and he did not learn to control his emotions.
The fact that he always got what he wanted made him a bad loser. As he grows older, he often acts inconsiderate and doesn’t know his limits.
Arthur’s authoritative parents respect their child’s needs, but believe that kids need freedom within certain limits.
Arthur can freely play, but when he’s done, he needs to help tidy up. He is allowed to eat ice cream, but only on Sundays. Screen-time is limited to 30 minutes a day.
There may be conflict, but the parents listen to what Arthur has to say and then lay down the rules.
Arthur learns that some things are difficult, but his parents give him all the support he needs to get through it. He develops the strength to endure hardships and to continue following his interests and passions.
In class he bravely expresses his own opinions in an appropriate manner. During breaks he can show his emotions and act freely.
As an adult, he agrees to rules only after they have been discussed and he feels like he understands them.
Neglectful parents are usually not present in their children’s life. Nora often feels completely alone in the world.
She experiences full freedom to do anything she wants to and has plenty of imagination, but she never receives any feedback, or even attention.
Nora realizes that it doesn’t matter what she does, because no one cares anyway. The lack of attention, leads to a lack of trust in herself and others. She becomes insecurely attached, unable to form healthy relationships and develops a negative image of herself.
To stop feeling unworthy of love, she tries not to feel anything at all.
In recent years, over-involved parents, who are present in every aspect of their child’s life, are often referred to as the 5th style.
These parents are also known as ‘snow plows’, removing obstacles out of their kids’ path, or ‘helicopter’ parents, who hover about and micro-manage every aspect of their child’s life.
Since they won’t let their children do anything alone, the children can’t learn to overcome challenges by themselves.
Research infers that these children don’t like to solve difficult problems, lack perseverance and may even procrastinate in protest when something requires a lot of effort.
Since most research on parenting is based on self-reports and was done in the US and Europe, it is not clear how strong the observed effects will hold up in controlled observational experiments or in other parts of the word.
The four parenting styles were first introduced by Psychologist Diana Baumrind. For good parenting she advised: “balance of demandingness and responsiveness“.
Add to that the wise words of Maria Montessori to “Never help a child with a task at which he feels he can succeed,” and parents should probably do pretty well.
What do you think? Should parents resort to a specific style or should they decide what’s best to do in a given situation? As long as they don’t neglect or abuse their child.
Source: Sprouts
WORD BANK:
authoritarian /əˌθɔːr.əˈter.i.ən/ (adj): độc đoán
permissive /pɚˈmɪs.ɪv/ (adj): dễ dãi
authoritative /əˈθɔːr.ə.t̬ə.t̬ɪv/ (adj): quyền uy
neglecting /nɪˈɡlekt/ [C1] (adj): thờ ơ
obedience /oʊˈbiː.di.əns/ (n): sự tuân thủ
exert /ɪɡˈzɝːt/ (v): áp đặt
uninvolved /ˌʌn.ɪnˈvɑːlvd/ (adj): không quan tâm
propose /prəˈpoʊz/ [B2] (v): đề xuất
unresponsive /ˌʌn.rɪˈspɑːn.sɪv/ (adj) [C1]: thiếu đáp ứng
receptive /rɪˈsep.tɪv/ (adj) [C1]: thấu hiểu
from/at each end of the spectrum (expression) [C1]: vô cùng khác biệt
talk back /tɑːk bæk/ (v) [B2]: cãi lại
timeout /ˈtaɪm.aʊt/ (n) [B2]: một lúc, một khoảng thời gian ngắn
suppress /səˈpres/ (v) [C1]: kìm nén
follow one’s duties (v) [B2]: làm tròn bổn phận
get through the day (v) [B2]: sống qua ngày
upset /ʌpˈset/ (adj) [B1]: khó chịu
obedient /oʊˈbiː.di.ənt/ (adj) [B2]: vâng lời
intrinsic /ɪnˈtrɪn.zɪk/ (adj) [C1]: nội tại
fulfill one’s wish (v) [B2]: đáp ứng mong muốn của ai đó
carry /ˈker.i/ (v) [B1]: bế
cope with sth /koʊp wɪð/ (v) [B2]: đối mặt với cái gì
loser /ˈluː.zɚ/ (n) [B1]: kẻ thua cuộc
inconsiderate /ˌɪn.kənˈsɪd.ɚ.ət/ (adj) [B2]: thiếu suy nghĩ
lay down (a rule/regulation) /leɪ daʊn/ (v) [C1]: đặt ra (luật lệ, quy tắc)
endure sth /ɪnˈdʊr/ (v) [C1]: chịu đựng điều gì
hardship /ˈhɑːrd.ʃɪp/ (n) [B2]: khó khăn
bravely /ˈbreɪv.li/ (adv) [B2]: mạnh dạn
in an appropriate manner (adv) [C1]: một cách phù hợp
neglectful /nɪˈɡlekt.fəl/ (adj) [C1]: bỏ bê
insecurely attached /ˌɪn.sɪˈkjʊr.li əˈtætʃt/ (adj) [C1]: bất an
unworthy /ʌnˈwɝː.ði/ (adj) [C1]: không xứng đáng
over-involved /ˌoʊ.vɚ.ɪnˈvɑːlvd/ (adj) [C1]: can thiệp quá mức
aspect /ˈæs.pekt/ (n) [B2]: khía cạnh
snow plow parents /ˈsnoʊ ˌplaʊ ˈper.ənts/ (n) [C1]: ba mẹ dọn đường
obstacle /ˈɑːb.stə.kəl/ (n) [B2]: chướng ngại vật
path /pæθ/ (n) [B1]: đường đi
hover about /ˈhʌ.vɚ əˈbaʊt/ (v) [C1]: bay quanh
infer /ɪnˈfɝː/ (v) [C1]: cho thấy
perseverance /ˌpɝː.səˈvɪr.əns/ (n) [C1]: kiên trì
procrastinate /proʊˈkræs.tɪ.neɪt/ (v) [C1]: trì hoãn
in protest (against sth) /ɪn ˈproʊ.test/ (adv) [B2]: để phản đối cái gì
hold up /hoʊld ʌp/ (v) [C1]: đúng (trong tình huống nào đó)
demandingness /dɪˈmæn.dɪŋ.nəs/ (n) [C1]: sự đòi hỏi
responsiveness /rɪˈspɑːn.sɪv.nəs/ (n) [C1]: sự đáp ứng
resort to sth /rɪˈzɔːrt tu/ (v) [C1]: tìm đến một cái gì đó như biện pháp duy nhất
neglect /nɪˈɡlekt/ (v) [B2]: bỏ bê
abuse /əˈbjuːs/ (v) [B2]: lạm dụng
ỦNG HỘ READ TO LEAD!
Chào bạn! Có thể bạn chưa biết, Read to Lead là một trang giáo dục phi lợi nhuận với mục đích góp phần phát triển cộng đồng người học tiếng Anh tại Việt Nam. Chúng tôi không yêu cầu người đọc phải trả bất kỳ chi phí nào để sử dụng các sản phẩm của mình để mọi người đều có cơ hội học tập tốt hơn. Tuy nhiên, nếu bạn có thể, chúng tôi mong nhận được sự hỗ trợ tài chính từ bạn để duy trì hoạt động của trang và phát triển các sản phẩm mới.
Bạn có thể ủng hộ chúng tôi qua 1 trong 2 cách dưới đây.
– Cách 1: Chuyển tiền qua tài khoản Momo.
Số điện thoại 0947.886.865 (Chủ tài khoản: Nguyễn Tiến Trung)
Nội dung chuyển tiền: Ủng hộ Read to Lead
hoặc
– Cách 2: Chuyển tiền qua tài khoản ngân hàng.
Ngân hàng VIB chi nhánh Hải Phòng
Số tài khoản: 012704060048394 (Chủ tài khoản: Nguyễn Tiến Trung)
Nội dung chuyển tiền: Ủng hộ Read to Lead
Lớp luyện thi IELTS online
Bạn đang có nhu cầu thi chứng chỉ IELTS cho đầu vào đại học, đi du học, xin việc hay xin cư trú và đang phân vân chưa biết học ở đâu?
Nếu bạn đang tìm kiếm dịch vụ luyện thi IELTS online với giáo viên uy tín và chất lượng, cũng như học phí phải chăng, thì thầy Trung và Cô Thủy (Admin và dịch giả chính của Read to Lead) có thể là một lựa chọn phù hợp dành cho bạn.
Hãy liên hệ (nhắn tin) tới trang Facebook cá nhân của mình (https://www.facebook.com/nguyen.trung.509) để tìm hiểu về lớp học và được tư vấn cũng như được học thử nha!
