The most difficult job in the world is to be a parent, and it’s the one job for which no one does any training. New parents get tons of advice from family, friends, and experts in the media.
All this advice is sometimes contradictory and very confusing. Sometimes, you have to follow your instinct. After all, no one knows the child like his or her parents.
If a strong bond is forged between parent and child in the early years, the family will survive the difficult teenage years that will surely come.
Parents have different parenting styles regarding the thorny issue of discipline. Debates rage on which methods are the best.
One of the constant arguments is over corporal punishment, to smack or not to smack. Smacking was commonplace when I was a kid and was part of life.
It was probably overused, and some parents did it out of habit rather than as a well-thought-out strategy to instill a sense of right and wrong.
I tended to be smacked when I was being a nuisance rather than for the times when I was doing something bad. It was an unthinking response of the older generation, a lot of the time.
Sometimes, it was calculated, of course, and more like going to the Head Teacher’s office to get the cane. The next generation started to question parenting styles, and many people rejected smacking altogether.
If smacking is outlawed in the home, what can replace it? Parents employ different measures according to their parenting styles.
Stopping TV for a week or two is one way, or grounding a child may do the trick. It’s a mercenary act of getting them where it hurts.
Some kids will prefer a quick smack to be grounded and unable to see their friends.
Sending a child to his room doesn’t seem to work like it used to. These days, children’s bedrooms are full of the latest gadgets and home entertainment centers. It’s not exactly a place of punishment or quiet reflection!
Parents are very busy people, running a home and holding down jobs. It’s tempting to give in to children’s demands when you come home exhausted from work.
Kids can sense weakness and know when to strike! Parenting styles may have relaxed over the years, and no one wants to return to the Victorian era when children were seen and never heard.
However, we mustn’t tip too far the other way. We don’t do our kids any favors by giving in to their every whim; what they need most is our attention.
Related Parenting Styles…
