Which Parenting Style is Most Encouraged in Modern America? – Essential Advice for parents

Which Parenting Style is Most Encouraged in Modern America?: In children’s socioemotional development, parenting style has a huge role in nurturing it. Because parents positioned in the first layer of children’s social circle. Before knowing anything, children know their parents first. Therefore, the responsiveness and demandingness of parents will form how children’s character would be.

Based on the response and demand of parents toward their kids, there are 4 different styles we can classify:

• The authoritarian style is when parents decide every little thing for their children. Also, children have no right to do what they want if it is the opposite of what parents want.
• The authoritative style is different from the previous one. Here, parents do have direction on how children should be and behave, but they still have room for negotiation.
• The permissive style is when parents indulge in children on every whim. This one is common to happen in a family where both parents are busy and have no time to deal with tantrums. Thus, to avoid their children throwing tantrums, their best bet is simply to agree.
• Unresponsive style is when parents take their children as an adult and should be capable of taking care of themselves by then. The difference from the permissive style is that the permissive style seems to bother, meanwhile the unresponsive style simply makes the children take every decision. Thus, you can say this is the exact opposite of the authoritarian style. 

Parenting Style in Modern America

Looking at the 4 styles mentioned, the authoritative style is the most encouraging parenting style in modern America. This is because setting rules yet flexible enough for a change can create two-way communication between parents and children. Therefore, children may do anything they want as long as it is within their parents’ restrictions. 

The style in parenting is surely different from the authoritarian style, even though it has almost a similar name. In the authoritarian style, parents set rules on how children should live their life and what they have to become. There’s no room for negotiation and children have to follow every step.

Meanwhile, the authoritative style is giving children some room for breath. Yet the freedom is the opposite from the permissive style parent, where parents agree on all of the children’s wants. Because even though giving freedom to children, authoritative parents still hold the power for the final decision and the children know that. For example, parents let their children drive for school once they turned 16. They can go anywhere they want after school as long as they don’t break any law and get back home within their curfew.

This way, children will feel responsible for what they do. Furthermore, it will also give the best for children’s socioemotional development. Because of the mutual respect from both parents and children, children know that they matter. Thus, they grow up as someone who knows that they are important to their parents but have responsibility for what they do.

For sure, this is far from the unresponsive style of parents. Because an unresponsive style is a complete neglect from parents toward their children. Thus, parents only treat their children as human beings and that’s it. Which is not the same as the opposite of the permissive style parents.

How Do Working Parents Pick Up Kids from School?

Although the unresponsive parenting style unlikely picks up their kids from school, the other three might still do. However, how would this work with a pair of working parents? Here are several ways to work with that:

• Negotiate with the workplace to pick up kids from school. This way can only apply if you work in a company with flexible hours and don’t demand exact office hours. Thus, as long as you can finish your job, they can give you some leniency.
• Get a backup babysitter if you can’t leave work to pick up your kids. Also, do not forget to register whoever would pick up your kids at the school. Because some schools restrict a non-registered person from picking up their student.
• Father and mother should split responsibility in picking up their kids. Because kids are not only the mother’s or the father’s responsibility but both.
• If possible, you can also find a flexible daycare that can add extended hours. Thus, you do not have to take leave during working hours. Also, the daycare is not part of the kids’ school, you may ask the daycare to pick up your kids to bring them to the daycare. Then, you only need to pick up your kids at daycare after working hours.

Amongst the mentioned styles above, the authoritative parenting style is the right option to apply. Because it can help children build their self-esteem. Parents treat children as someone who knows what they want but do not completely let them off the hook.