Emily Chadwick
Child Discipline
Sociology of Family
When
any kind of couple has children, they often come to the difficult issue of how
to discipline a child. There has been several different debates on whether
spanking a child is abuse, how do time outs function in a household and when
does discipline become abuse? I have heard many of these topics being thrown
around in discussion in many different social situations.
There
is often a confusion of what the actual definition of discipline is. According
to the Committee for Children (2004), “the purpose of discipline is ‘to
encourage moral, physical, and intellectual development and a sense of
responsibility in children.’” It is often believed that child
discipline goes hand and hand with being extremely forceful, aggressive, and
physical. But according to that definition there is no need for any of these
things. It often depends on what kind of parents they are.
As
we discussed in class, there are a few types of parenting styles. In class we
talked about Permissive, authoritative, and authoritarian, but according to
Ingram (2006) ‘There are four parenting styles, the permissive parent, the
neglectful parent, the authoritarian parent, and the authoritative parent.’ So it depends on what kind of parenting style if there is more
likely going to be forceful discipline involved.
By
the definitions of those four parenting styles, Authoritarian is more likely to
use forceful, and physical violence in discipline. Often these types of parents
think it is ‘their way or the highway.’ They often use fear to control their
children.
There
are certain aspects of discipline I agree with though, I do not believe that
being a permissive parent is good for the parent of any of the children
involved. They often grow up learning that they can get anything they want, or
do anything they want without consequences. And authoritative parenting style I believe is the most
successfully effective style of parenting, there can be compromise with the
parent and child, but there is a use of punishment such as time out and
consequences for wrongdoing.
Ingram, C. (n.d.). Effective child discipline. Retrieved from
http://www.focusonthefamily.com/parenting/effective_biblical_discipline/effective-child-discipline.aspx
Child discipline. (n.d.).
Retrieved from
http://www.americanhumane.org/children/stop-child-abuse/fact-sheets/child-discipline.html
One of the articles
used a quote from the Committee for Children as well.
Questions:
1. What type of parenting do you think proves to be most successful and healthy?
2. Do you think a mixture of any of these types of parenting is helpful?
3. What type of consequences do you think can result from any of these different types of family?
To respond to the questions you posed:
ReplyDelete1. I think that being overly aggressive and using fear and intimidation to control your children is not a healthy way to raise a child. I think it teaches children that fear and intimidation are good ways to get what you want, and I don't believe that is true at all. I think a better way to raise children is to, in general, lead by example. Kids often model their parents and if parents are polite and respectful to each other and other people, I think kids pick up on that very much.
2. Despite my answer to Question 1, I do understand that parents have times when they need to "put their foot down." And I also know that setting boundaries is very important for a sense of stability for kids at a young age. I think a mixture of different parenting styles is usually necessary.
3. I think this issue is not black and white and if you are too authoritative your children might suffer as a result, but if you are too lenient or permissive, they might not have any boundaries and things could also turn out badly.
Thanks for posting these questions, they were interesting to think about!
-Karen Briggs
Emily, that is a really interesting topic & people have different views on parenting a child based on how they were brought up and may include other factors. It was also interesting to read about the fourth parenting style. I do agree with you that permissive parenting style isn't the most successful and effective.
ReplyDeleteTo answer your questions,
1. I believe that authoritative parenting style is the most successful, healthy, and proves to be the effective parenting style. This type of parenting style gives the opportunity for parents to set rules and guidelines but also be warm toward children. The permissive parenting style lets the children become pretty much brats, and as you wrote, learn that they can get whatever the desire. In my opinion, Authoritarian parenting style has a negative impact on children. Because of so many rules and guidelines, most children become rebels.
2. Do you think a mixture of any of these types of parenting is helpful?
I do believe that a mixture of any of these types of parenting is helpful and also healthy. In particular, I feel like authoritative parenting style is already a mixture of authoritarian and permissive. To briefly define the three parenting styles discussed in class, authoritarian parenting style involves parents who strict, demanding and don't show love or warmth towards a child. This parenting style most often results in rebellious children I believe. On the other hand, permissive parents pretty much let their children do whatever they want to. The authoritative parents show love and warmth but also are demanding and a strict.
3. What type of consequences do you think can result from any of these different types of family?
I agree with Karen Briggs on this question. I believe that if you don't set up rules/guidelines or if you are too strict with children, it may end up in a negative situations.
-- Irina Dey