Authoritative parenting is a traditional parenting style and is still quite common. In this type of parenting children are mostly guided by their parents and need to follow strict rules and disciplines. Parents also attend to their child’s needs and emotions. This style of parenting is considered as an effective and healthy parenting style without the use of harsh punishments. However, every type of parenting approach entails some level of side effects even if it is unintended. The following article will discuss in detail the pros and cons of authoritative parenting.
Merits of Authoritative Parenting
Authoritative parenting style is considered extremely beneficial for children as it helps to foster positive attitude and confidence in children. Here are some of the advantages of authoritative parenting.
1. Positive Social and Emotional Development
Children raised by authoritative parents develop healthy social and emotional traits. They feel more secure and important due to the constant attention of their parents as a result develops strong personality and self-esteem. They also develop higher emotional intelligence and develop an empathetic demeanor.
2. High Academic Achiever
Children of authoritative parents tend to excel in academics and are high achievers. Due to strict discipline, clear goals and expectations, care and nurturing and proper guidance, children of authoritative parents tend to excel in academics.
3. Autonomy and Responsibility
Authoritative parenting is all about creating healthy and balanced boundaries for children. Within a supportive environment children learn to think on their own and take up certain responsibilities. This fosters strong personality development, essential skill development like problem-solving abilities, decision making abilities and developing a strong sense of responsibility. These traits make them independent and self-reliant.
4. Strong and Healthy Relationship Bonding
Authoritative parenting encourages open dialogue and sharing between parents and children. This helps to develop strong parent-child bonding fostering mutual respect and trust. Allowing children to share their feelings and experiences keeps parents informed about what their children are up to and alternatively children feel free to share everything with their parents.
5. Prevent Behavior Problems
The incidence of aggressiveness and defiance demeanor is less among children raised by authoritative parents. The strict discipline, fixed expectations and proper nurturing under authoritative parenting foster self-discipline, self-control and proper demeanor in children.
6. Forster Adaptability and Resilience
Authoritative parenting makes children more resilient and enhances adaptability skills. They are encouraged to be independent and to develop problem-solving skills, enabling them to navigate difficult situations and handle setbacks efficiently. They also develop healthy coping mechanisms and a positive attitude towards facing all life’s challenges with confidence.
Demerits of Authoritative Parenting
Authoritative parenting like all other parenting styles requires a balance. If parents cross the limit and become too demanding and controlling, it might prove counterproductive for children. Here are some of the top demerits of authoritative parenting.
A. Keeping High Expectation
Authoritative parents usually raise the bar for their expectation of children’s behavior and achievements which at times exert unbearable pressure on children. Even though it might be motivating for children to thrive for higher achievement, not being able to meet up the expected standard can lead to extreme frustration and depression in children. Thus, it is important to set achievable goals and reasonable expectations so that it does not overburden the children.
B. Suffering from Lack of Autonomy
Authoritative parenting might become extremely restrictive for children compared to ones who are raised by permissive parenting. This might discourage children to follow the set rules and to maintain discipline. They might also start keeping things from their parents and become arrogant and defiant.
C. Inability to Make Decision Independently
As children of authoritative parents are always guided by their parents it might become problematic to make decisions independently without seeking parent’s approval. They might also feel insecure to take up new challenges on their own and to adjust to a new environment away from the home setting.
D. Problem of Perfectionism
Over emphasis on high performance and achievements leads to the problem of perfectionism in children that prevents them from completing a task on time with efficiency. They are also always doubtful regarding their abilities and end up comparing themselves with others and fail to handle failure or setback. This leads to stress and anxiety disorders in children. Books on a child’s learning guide for parents would provide key insights to parents on how to navigate these challenging situations effectively.
Bottom Line
Authoritative parenting as other types of parenting has both advantages and disadvantages. The main component of a successful parenting is sticking to the perfect balance. Too much pressure and discipline is detrimental for children and causes undue stress. It can also spoil the relationship balance between parents and children.
