Parenting styles have a great influence on the development of children. A child born with loving guidance and support from his parents when growing up will be much different from a child who is scolded all day long, and does not receive any praise or love from his parents.
Parenting style in the digital age is as important as parenting style in real life because your child relies on the Internet for study and entertainment so it is impossible not to use the Internet.
The Internet is a second virtual world, so teaching children to behave in a safe and responsible way is equally important to teaching children to behave in the real world. The article below will help you understand the parenting styles and the most beneficial parenting style in the digital age.
What are the 4 Parenting styles in the digital age?
Permissive Parenting
This type of parenting is the complete opposite of authoritarian parenting style. Parents in this manner act as close friends of the child rather than main parent when they often communicate, share things with their children. They are warm, attached, and loving (and sometimes seen as pampering). In short, these are the kinds of parents that every child dreams of.
This parenting style has little expectations of children, so parents don’t ask for as much as the authoritarian style. Therefore, they tend to be more responsive. But teenagers need more than just nourishment. They also need discipline.
It isn’t good for children to enjoy the complete freedom that comes with the absence of rules, as a result, boundaries are necessary to keep them safe, such as automated harmful content filtering on the Internet, protecting children from pornography, drugs, and violence. etc.
Especially during puberty, when teens are very inquisitive and easily affected, leading to a high risk of thoughtless behavior.
Without discipline, teenagers of easy-going parents will not have a chance to learn self-control. They grow up expecting to be immediately satisfied with their desires. They tend to get stuck in school and have social problems. One study found that children of easy-going parents were 3 times more likely to drink alcohol in their teens.
Authoritarian Parenting
This is a “my way” parenting style, in which rules are strictly followed, not contested. These rules are in place and must be done by command, with no explanation and no room for discussion.
Authoritarian parents don’t show much warmth or affection for their children. They set high expectations of their children such as being smart, achieving high scores, and not making mistakes. They use harsh punishment to ensure that the child will obey their rules. Although demanding a lot, but they are less giving benefits/opportunities for their children.
This authoritarian parenting style has several benefits, giving kids clarity about disciplines and boundaries.
However, there is more to the problem with that type of parenting. Without intimate conversations, your teenage kid won’t feel comfortable talking to his parents about his life. You won’t know what’s going on in your child’s teen life. This is a bad thing because children can completely fall into unhealthy aspects such as using marijuana, stimulants like ecstasy or even risk being addicted to watching sex without their parents knowing it.
Because a teenage child doesn’t get compliments or positive feedback from authoritarian parents, he grows up with feelings of fear and experiences the transition to adulthood even more difficult.
Neglectful Parenting
Many people believe that a negligent or un-involved type of parenting is the most harmful parenting style practice for children of all ages.
Parents often provide only basic needs such as accommodation, food, and tuition. Besides, they are not interested in the child’s other physical and emotional needs. They don’t communicate/listen to their children, they don’t guide, teach, and are separate from their children’s lives. Living in such a home environment will make teens feel unsafe.
When we talk about neglectful parenting, we tend to focus on the needs of our younger children. The wrong thing is that it is assumed that adolescents can have self-control and are therefore not subject to the same degree of neglect by their parents as children.
However, this is completely wrong. This type of parenting hurts all ages.
One study found that neglectful parenting was directly correlated with teenagers’ poor academic performance, such as truancy, poor physical health, and risky behaviors such as smoking, using heroin or drinking alcohol.
Authoritative Parenting
While there are some similarities, this style should not be confused with the authoritarian parenting style we discussed earlier. The authoritative type of parenting creates a healthy balance between the rule-maker of authoritarian parents and the warmth and nurturing of permissive parenting.
In this style, rules and ways are developed for the child to follow, however, the difference is that adolescents have the right to understand the reasons for the rules and to comment on them. If a teen makes a mistake, the parent in this parenting will forgive and teach instead of punishing the child.
Besides, parents in an authoritative parenting style also openly show affection for their children and generously praise their children when they do something well. This helps the child build his self-esteem and confidence.
Teens benefit the most from this parenting style. They feel valued when they have a say in decision-making. This type of parenting allows children to make their own decisions freely but also to bear the consequences of these choices and adjust accordingly.
That process, coupled with the parent’s support, assertiveness, but not invasiveness, helps them develop the problem-solving skills they’ll need as an adult.
Consistent research shows that authoritative parenting is in the best interests of the child and yields the best results.
What is the most beneficial parenting style in the digital age?
Well to some extent, the answer is Authoritative Parenting. Here are reasons explaining why is authoritative parenting the best.
Also, some examples of how parents teaching in Authoritative Parenting style guide their children on using the Internet:
Build an intimate conversation environment
Conversation includes talking and listening, which means you have to create a place where your kids know they can talk to you about any confusing thing on the Internet and they know that you will listen to them.
The biggest difference between authoritarian parenting and other styles is that parents always listen to their children, allowing their children to tell their questions.
This is extremely important in the virtual world when your children are easily influenced by outside factors such as they are easy to be attacked by bad guys for a purpose of deceiving their personal information. Your child is also more likely to be negatively affected by inappropriate content such as pornography, which affects their psychology and behavior.
Research shows that early access to porn makes your child more susceptible to addiction, carries a greater risk of violence against women, and a distorted perception of healthy relationships in real life.
Regularly educate your child about the dangers of the Internet
Authoritarian parenting style with rules are in place and must be done by command, with no explanation and no room for discussion. Parents, for example, prohibit their children from disclosing personal information or viewing pornography.
The assertive parenting style is that parents often guide their children about what is appropriate and inappropriate for their children, about not posting personal information on social networks and having convincing EXPLANATION for this.
Respect your child’s privacy
Parents in this style always support their children for their safety on the Internet, still give their children a private space to be independent and autonomous with their behaviors but not too intrusive in their private life child.
For example, to keep their children safe on the Internet, many parents use inappropriate content filtering to reduce the risk of pornography, violence, accidents, gore, etc. Close to your children, instead of using software to read messages, watch all their activities on social networks, etc.
Reference: Predicting Early Maladaptive Schemas Using Baumrind’s Parenting Styles
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