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Authoritative Parenting
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Department, University
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Professor (or Dr.) First name Last name
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Introduction
Parenting is one of the most challenging duties an adult undertakes in life. The difficult
part is managing behavior. Children must learn how to act appropriately at home, school and in
social settings during their early development stages. Adults find this task problematic because
kids are delicate, and some strategies might do more harm than good. Parents utilize various
parenting styles including authoritative, permissive and neglectful. Depending on the type of
parenting style, children learn to depend on themselves, build relationships and become good
adults. Permissive parents relax and depend on affection and love to bring up their children.
Neglectful parents do not show children any care or affection.
Authoritative Parenting
When it comes to authoritative parenting, parents are nurturing and warm but still maintain
high standards and expectations. According to Baumrind (1971), authoritative parents keep a
balance between discipline and affection. More so, they motivate their children with rewards
when they do good and punishment when they are wrong. They encourage their children to be
independent, but at the same time, they put limits on their actions and behaviour. Authoritative
parents are consistent, assertive and firm. Instead of being overly harsh and restrictive, they
demand accountability and responsibility for actions. Being assertive and encouraging discipline
helps children value goals and morals. Authoritative parents use this strategy because they care
about their children’s well-being and autonomy. Children who grow under such parents tend to
have healthy adult relationships with other people including their parents.
Authoritative parents motivate children by boosting their self-confidence and self-esteem
using rewards. Children are fragile and need encouragement during their early years. According
to Turgeon (2018), giving rewards for good behavior is a powerful motivator. Turgeon (2018)
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adds that punishment and negative feedback affects their confidence because they might believe
they are inadequate since early developmental years play a critical role in shaping personality.
However, positive feedback, incentives, and gifts encourage and boost positivity. For instance,
rewarding children for good performance in school will encourage them to work harder. Rewards
and appreciation enhance and boost children's self-esteem, which is important in personal,
academic and social life.
Authoritative parents use positive reinforcement to enhance the interaction with their
children. According to Nevin and Mandell (2017), parents who reward correct behavior or
actions moving towards the right direction have better relationships with their children. In
addition, rewards motivate children better than punishment because they improve parental
relationships. Constant punishments such as those used by authoritarian parents alienate kids by
discouraging communication and eliminating any positive collaboration. While punishments are
necessary, they might discourage children from interacting with their parents. For example,
children who feel valued consult their parents more than those who feel unwanted. Hence,
rewards help improve communication and interaction because children feel loved and
appreciated.
Conversely, rewards do not eliminate wrong conduct. Although parents are advised to
ignore bad behavior, that does not mean it does not exist. Children are always rebellious, and
punishment is the only way to set them right. Punishments remind children that all actions have
consequences. Authoritative parents use this strategy to help children learn accountability and
responsibility. For example, failure to study in class will not lead to rewards but will also mean
school deterioration. Although punishments discourage bad behavior, there is a consensus that
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physical punishment and even some forms of verbal punishments are detrimental to child
development. When using this strategy, the child's well-being should come first.
Application
Different cultures have different parenting styles. Western countries mostly prefer
authoritative style, although it can be argued that the punishment provided by these parents is not
enough to encourage children to grow into responsible adults. Authoritative parenting style is
mostly preferred because it is democratic. Parents get to establish conditions that when met, the
children will get rewarded, and when they fail to meet these standards, they get punished.
Parents who grow under authoritative parents develop into respectable, responsible and
accountable adults, according to Baumrind (1971), authoritative parents have better mental
health and psychological outcomes. Children who grow under such parents feel loved, have high
self-esteem and experience few delinquency problems. They have a strong sense of
independence, confidence, security and self-concept.
Children undergo many challenges when growing up. Their cognitive development
depends on how they are treated by their caregivers. A good childhood foundation is the key to
their overall mental health, self-esteem and happiness. Children who grow under authoritative
parents are self-reliant, and have better social skills. The reason children who are under
authoritative parents are better adults is because while growing up, they understand that life has
both rewards and consequences.
Rewarding kids motivates them better than punishments because it boosts their self-esteem
and improves parental relationships. Positive reinforcement and encouragement improve and
boost children's confidence. Also, parents who reward good behavior have a better relationship
with their children. However, punishments also have benefits when applied carefully and with
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the child's well-being in mind. While rewards motivate children better than punishments, bad
behavior needs correction. When utilizing any of these strategies, parents should ensure
correcting or encouraging behavior is the goal.
Conclusion
Depending on the type of parenting style, children learn to depend on themselves, build
relationships and become good adults. Parents utilize various parenting styles including
authoritative, permissive and neglectful. Permissive parents relax and depend on affection and
love to bring up their children. Neglectful parents do not show children any care or affection. All
these parents use their strategies because they believe they will help their children. In the end,
children must learn how to act appropriately at home, school and in social settings during their
early development stages. Permissive parents think that punishments are not appropriate and
some strategies might do more harm than good. However, they end up bringing up children, who
are not ready to face challenges in their adult life, luck affection, responsibility and empathy.
Authoritative parenting is ideal because parents are nurturing and warm but still maintain
high standards and expectations. In addition, they motivate their children with rewards when
they do good and punishment when they are wrong. They encourage their children to be
independent, but at the same time, they put limits on their actions and behaviour. Authoritative
parents are consistent, assertive and firm. Instead of being overly harsh and restrictive, they
demand accountability and responsibility for actions.
It is better to model children while they are young to face life than to love them, using
permissive parenting style. Also, neglecting to love and punish children while they are young can
harm children because they will develop abandonment issues, mental health issues as well as
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cognitive problems. Parents should balance both affection and punishment to bring up their
children using authoritative parenting strategies.
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References
Nevin, J. A., & Mandell, C. (2017). Comparing positive and negative reinforcement: A fantasy
experiment. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 107(1), 34–38.
[Link]
Schoenfeld, P. (2018, January 14). It's better to give your children rewards than punishments.
[Link]. [Link]
than-punishments/
Turgeon, H. (2018, August 21). Which is better, rewards or punishments? Neither. The New
York Times. [Link]
[Link]
Baumrind, D. (1971). Current patterns of parental authority. Developmental Monograph, 41(1,
Part 2).
