--Original published at Allison's Psych Blog
Different parenting styles allow for children to grow up in all different ways. In the case of the tiger mom, jellyfish dad, and helicopter parents, all are very different and will produce children with very different personalities. Tiger moms are way too harsh when it comes to succeeding for their children. They want nothing but the best, and will stop at nothing for their child to get it. This type of overbearing can put too much stress on a child, and ultimately leave the child to be so dependent, they won’t be able to do much for themselves in the future. A jellyfish dad does not care much about what the child does, and kind of lets things go as the child does things they shouldn’t. This may seem like the perfect life, but without some sort of authority, the parent will be completely taken advantage of, and the child can become reckless and irresponsible. Their grades could slip, and they may get into bad situations. With helicopter parents, having someone watch everything you do constantly puts a lot of stress on a child. Feeling like they need to hide every aspect of their lives and that they never have the privacy they deserve. This is means to raise very deviant and sneaky children. Personally, I don’t believe any of these parenting styles are beneficial to raising a child. I believe that there should be some authority, the children should always be pushed to be their best, and there should be a sort of discipline to make sure the child doesn’t get away with things they shouldn’t. But, I also believe that there should be some freedom in the child’s life. They should be able to go out and have fun, I shouldn’t have to go through their phone for no reason, and they should be allowed to engage in whatever activities they want to. A perfect medium between two extremes is the perfect way to raise a child.