--Original published at Rachel Bickelman's PSY 105 Blog

There are the stereotypes of parents ranging from tiger moms to helicopter parents and these forms of parenting are often viewed as overbearing and unhealthy for both children and their relationship to their parents. Though I do not believe there is a generalized “best” way to parents, as children are unique individuals and thus need their needs met in different ways, there do exist bad methods of parenting. I will discuss what I think is the ideal way to raise children.

In order to raise a child to grow up happy, healthy and a productive citizen, it is important to foster a trusting environment of love, care, acceptance, understanding, and encouragement. The first year of life is extremely formative and influential on physical development (i.e. motor skills), emotional health and even mental health. I know this because when we began to foster my (now adopted) younger brother, he was only 18 months old but had developed severe mental illnesses due to a lack of psychical, mental and emotional support in his first year of life. Since the foundation for the three main categories of health are heavily established during the first year of life I would ensure all these needs are met to their maximum potential. To do so, I would provide the infant with plenty of safe stimulation in all forms of their senses, sight, sound, touch, and taste to develop each aspect of their health. I think love and acceptance is important to teach too, thus I would exemplify this behavior as early as possible. Finally, teaching the infant that the parent will be a constant figure of love and support will carry over through life.

Though I believe children should be able to pursue their own interests I also think boundaries need to be established, such boundaries are in place to keep the child safe but allow them to explore their passions. These boundaries would be loose though and discussed with the child so they do not feel that the parent is a dominant figure to facilitate a system of open communication. Thus, the child would understand why the boundaries were in place. I think its important to have boundaries so that the child will learn how to be safe and moral and ethics but including open communication allows the child to form their own thoughts, discuss, and understand that these rules and boundaries are in place to keep them safe and healthy. Rather than forcing a child to finish their vegetables, explaining to them why they must eat healthy and its importance rather than a harsh command with no explanation. Parents should have their child’s best interest at heart and the child should know this. Of course, there must be rules intact but teaching the child the logic behind them rather than pressuring them to follow rules without explanation is important and I believe it would help them to develop curiosity and their process of thinking. By building a foundation of expectation through open boundaries, meaning children would learn right and wrong and understand why, would help them in the future to make choices they believe are just or right.

Communication is key in mental and emotional health and facilitating a relationship between parent and child will allow the child to share their feelings and avoid feelings of alienation, subordination, or intimidation of the parent. Through honest communication, encouragement, and a relationship built on a foundation of love and acceptance, I believe a child would grow up happy and healthy. Open and honest communication also means that the parent and child would be frequently interacting thus helping the child’s social skills and strengthen their familial bond. This way, the parents know their child, their personality and know how to best be trusting and supportive of them and vice versa.

Balance between physical, emotional, and mental health through a system of communication and love are important aspects I believe are necessary for children to grow up happy, healthy and productive citizens of society. Curiosity and exploration through open boundaries and the understanding of right and wrong are also important. Facilitating open communication and simply knowing that the parent will be a constant figure of support and love for the child’s endeavors is what I believe would result in a happy and healthy child.

--Original published at RachelsCollegeBlog

Parenting is something that everybody has there own opinion on when it comes to how it is supposed to be gone about. Though, there are ideal ways that parenting should be dealt with. From my point of view the ideal way of parenting should include freedom to make mistakes but also be there to guide them through life changing events and hard times.

A child starting at a young age needs to learn to make decisions on their own, though these decisions should not be detrimental to the child’s safety or well-being. This can start with them choosing what they would like to have for lunch, for example, do they want a PB&J or a cheese sandwich. However, as they get older the decisions that the child must make is going to become increasing more difficult and may even have a effect on the rest of their lives. This could include going to a late night party which could have a negative impact on the child’s live if there is alcohol involved. However, at some point in the child’s late teenage year they should make that decision on their own. If they make a mistake they will learn from it, if they don’t make their own mistakes how are they supposed to learn how to survive in society or in life itself. However, when a child makes a mistake, parents should not only discipline the child but also guide them in the right direction so they do not make the mistake again. Every child will respond to events differently but it the the parents place to raise them through guidance and understanding as well as through teaching and discipline.

--Original published at jennacampanellipsych

Parenting may be the most important job in the world. Their child’s fate is in their hands, they can either ruin or make his/her’s life great. Some parents are very strict, not letting their child see friends, leave the house, or make any decisions for themselves. I do not think this is the right way to raise a child, once they grow up it is most likely they will start rebelling and lying to their parents since they were not allowed to do anything earlier. Yet, you cannot raise your child too leniently either. When you do not give a child rules and boundaries they will not be prepared for adult life and may not be responsible. I think the best parenting is somewhere in-between these styles of parenting. The biggest thing in a healthy and happy relationship between parents and children is trust. If you both do not trust each other there is no way to have a good relationship. Parents should set boundaries but also understand that kids need to be kids sometimes and make mistakes. It is important that parents are teaching children good values by example, you can tell a child to be a good person over and over again but if you are not following through and being good and kind yourself the child will never learn. Children pick up on every action, if you are not careful you could have your child imitating your bad habits or behaviors. Trying to raise a good person who is helpful, kind, and a good addition to society is hard, but it is the most rewarding thing if you can achieve it.

--Original published at Isabella's Psychology Blog

Every parent hopes their children grow up to be happy, healthy, and productive members of society. Though when it comes to what way children should be raised in order to produce happy productive members of society, many parents tend to have different opinions. The three different parenting styles are strict parents, laid-back parents, and a type of parenting in between the two. Of the three parenting opinions I think that the parenting style in between is the best.

This is because strict parenting (helicopter parenting)  deprives their children of their freedom. Since strict parents try to take control of their children’s entire life. So while the strict parents’ children may stay out of trouble to their parent’s knowledge, the children are more likely to get into trouble the second they are out of their parents to reach of control. Another result of strict parenting is that their children don’t know how to function without their parents or the children growing up to be very strict.

A laid-back parenting style is also not the best parenting system. Since the laid-back parent is very hands off and lets their children do whatever they want. Unfortunately, this means that some parents take this as far as never saying no or making their children wait while growing up. This extreme take on laid-back parenting is that the children become entitled and hold a warped view of society. For the parents that do not take laid-back parenting to an extreme, their kids are more independent and are less likely to rebel against their parents in the future. Though the lack of structure may make the children more likely to make more mistakes in their life.

For the parenting style that I think is the best is the common ground between the two extremes of strict and laid back parents. The parenting style of the common ground has the parents have some rules for their children to follow but allows their children to make choices. So this parenting style has both the positive and the negative effect of the other parenting styles. Resulting in the children of the common ground parenting style are still likely to rebel against their parents but the children will have some independence. So compared to the other parenting style I feel that the common ground parenting style is the best.

--Original published at Sydney’s Side

The current life span of American citizens is about 78 years old, so I have divided that lifespan into eight categories based off of that number. They are closer together in the beginning because the early years are where we learn the most about ourselves and the world around us. They begins to be farther age ranges as we age because we have experienced more, and new opportunities come more slowly.

• Birth to three years old
  • The primary psychology issue at this age is becoming aware of yourself and there are other people around you with whom you interact.
• Four to eight years old
  • At this age, children must learn the social aspects of life and must learn how to behave around other people.
• Nine to twelve years old
  • This is when children become more acclimated to their environment, so in school they become more focused but still have the challenge of navigating the social aspects of it.
• Thirteen to Seventeen
  • At this age, kids mature into teenagers and must come to terms with the fact that they are going to be on their own soon. They must start to learn more from their parents and teachers about how to be on their own.
• Eighteen to twenty-five
  • This is when people go off into the real world and become a functioning adult. They must learn new ways of life and how to be on their own for real.
• Twenty-six to thirty-nine
  • As an adult, they have settled into their new lives and now start their families so they start the challenge of raising their own children.
• Forty to sixty
  • People at this age come to realize that they are on the declining end of their life, they have been alive more years than they have left. Their challenge is making new decisions to change their life style to do what they want to do.
• Sixty-one to death
  • This is when people start to retire and many elderly people become depressed because they no longer have a purpose in life. Their kids are all grown up and they have nothing to do all day. Psychologically, they must learn how to adapt once again to a new life style.

--Original published at Jayln's Perspective

A helicopter parent is extremely focused on every aspect of their child’s life. A tiger parent is authoritative, overbearing, and often only validates their child when they are able to achieve something. On the other end of the spectrum, a jellyfish parent is permissive, unclear with boundaries, and absent in their child’s life.

The terms “helicopter parent,” “tiger parent,” and “jellyfish parent” are all styles of parenting I have been exposed to throughout my time as the neighborhood babysitter. During my early teenage years, I noticed that many of the parents in my neighborhood went about raising their children in different ways, so as the babysitter, I was expected to “mirror” these types of parenting styles. For example, the parents who were overbearing and strict always had me monitoring their child’s sugar intake and making sure their child was in bed by a specific time. But in other homes, where the parents were more relaxed, they were not as focused on these types of things.

I believe that the most effective type of parenting that produces happy, healthy, members of society, is a hybrid of tiger parenting and jellyfish parenting. If children are going to grow up in a home that is too restrictive with no sense of trust between parent and child, they will be more likely to rebel. On the other hand, if a child is predominately allowed to make their own decisions, with no parental intervention, they will most likely make costly mistakes. I think it is important for a child to have some form of structure and rules, but not to the point where they are not allowed to make any type of decision on their own. Trust is something that a child should earn from their parents. Also, a good parent is someone who is willing to listen to their child. This type of honest relationship makes it easier for a child to talk to their parent without fear of getting into trouble. This is positive for the parent, who knows what is going on in the life of their child, and for the child, who receives a vital, loving support system.

There are many ways to parent, but there must be mutual respect between children and parents. As long as they are not ridiculous and unfair, children should respect their parents’ rules and wishes. Parents should respect their children’s privacy (journals, text messages, etc.) as long as the child is honest, following their parents’ rules, and not putting themselves or anyone else in danger.