What you need to know about authoritative parenting

Have you ever thought of what your parenting style is? Does it fall under the authoritative, authoritarian or permissive spectrum?

Well, each style has its pros and cons regardless of what you prefer.

The permissive style has more of a friendly relationship between child and parent while the authoritarian one focuses on what the parent wants for the child by all means.

When it comes to authoritative parenting, it’s more of a balance between permissive and authoritarian parenting.

This means that the needs of both parent and child are met through mutual understanding. The child knows what their parents expect from them and at the same time, they have room to speak up and express themselves.

Overall, research shows that this type of parenting has the most benefits and this is why

This is because it lets parents get the respect they deserve. It’s not like permissive parenting where boundaries aren’t defined at all or like authoritarian where respect is enforced in a dictator-like manner.

Authoritative parenting helps build a child’s esteem. Since parents also take time to hear them out, the kids feel like their contribution is valued. And this is what makes this parenting style popular compared to the rest.

Through this style, parents nurture their kids to be independent and respectful without being too hard on them. That mutual understanding between parents and children helps them to cope better because they are already empowered to make the right decisions.

Authoritative parents are usually involved in their kid’s lives and this is no different when it comes to academics. They encourage their children without bashing them which also helps the kids take their school work seriously.

This type of parenting style also equips children with the right set of skills for the outside world. We know that a good leader is one who is independent, respectful towards others, one who has good communication skills and someone who can take others needs into consideration. This is an all rounded leader which is exactly what an authoritative household nurtures.

Although authoritative parenting has been praised for so long, it definitely has some flaws.

This type of parenting style needs to be adjusted often because of the confusion that comes with it. A parent might even exercise permissive parenting and authoritarian parenting depending on the situation. This is exhausting for a parent because every situation needs a different approach.

Also, it might cause a child to rebel at times because they hold a significant amount of power. They might use that leeway to do things their parents would never agree with. This rebellion phase can be disappointing for authoritative parents because of expectations.

Another flaw is the fact that it doesn’t work for every household as families have unique approaches to attending to their matters.

Still, authoritative parenting is one of the most efficient parenting methods if done right.