Parenting Styles
There are four types of parenting styles; authoritative, authoritarian, indulgent and uninvolved. In the following situations parenting styles will be evaluated in respect to each scenario.
Scenario One
Your daughter, who is in seventh grade wants to go one a date with a boy in tenth grade.
Authoritative- a parent with this parenting style will consider allowing the date to occur. They would talk to their daughter first to learn more about the boy and what the intentions of the relationship would be. If the parent allows the date to occur they will set boundaries on what can occur on the date and trust that the daughter will follow them. However, if after talking to the daughter the parent decides not to allow the date to occur they will explain to their daughter why they don't think it should happen and possibly give an alternative like allowing the boy to come over to hangout so that the parents can learn more about him which may allow a date to occur in the future.
Authoritarian- a parent with this parenting style would most likely not allow their daughter to go on the date. There wouldn't be any if's, and's or but's and the daughter would be forced to abide by the parents decision without being able to question it. If the parent did allow the daughter to go on the date, the parents would have total control over where it occurred at, when it happened, and what happened during the date. The daughter would not be able to question them or ask them if she could do something other than what they decided and again would have to abide by everything that they said.
Scenario One
Your daughter, who is in seventh grade wants to go one a date with a boy in tenth grade.
Authoritative- a parent with this parenting style will consider allowing the date to occur. They would talk to their daughter first to learn more about the boy and what the intentions of the relationship would be. If the parent allows the date to occur they will set boundaries on what can occur on the date and trust that the daughter will follow them. However, if after talking to the daughter the parent decides not to allow the date to occur they will explain to their daughter why they don't think it should happen and possibly give an alternative like allowing the boy to come over to hangout so that the parents can learn more about him which may allow a date to occur in the future.
Authoritarian- a parent with this parenting style would most likely not allow their daughter to go on the date. There wouldn't be any if's, and's or but's and the daughter would be forced to abide by the parents decision without being able to question it. If the parent did allow the daughter to go on the date, the parents would have total control over where it occurred at, when it happened, and what happened during the date. The daughter would not be able to question them or ask them if she could do something other than what they decided and again would have to abide by everything that they said.
Scenario Two
You have one child, a 15-year-old, and you found him sneaking a couple of cans of beer out of the fridge.
Authoritative- The parents with the Authoritative parenting style would be upset, however they would talk to their child about the reasoning behind their decision to take beer. The parents would approach this situation cautiously and understanding, but stern. The parents would attempt to find out if there is any stressful situations taking place in the child's life or if he just decided that he wanted to have a couple drinks. If there was something stressful taking place they would ask why he didn't feel that he could talk to them rather then letting alcohol be the solution. The parents of the child would also stress the dangers of alcohol on minors as well as adults, and the potential trouble under age drinking can bring to himself from law enforcement officials as well as from his parents, and how abusing alcohol can easily ruin schooling.
Indulgent- The indulgent parents would not be upset that the child was drinking, however they would be upset that the child did not ask for the beer rather than stealing it. The parents would have been willing to give the alcohol to the child if he would have asked. They would probably tell the child that if he wanted to drink that they would have been willing to supply him with something rather than taking his parents beer. The parents would also be less upset about the situation than the authoritative parents which would show the child that drinking and taking beer is not a big deal. This could lead to many behavioral problems, and peer problems as well.
You have one child, a 15-year-old, and you found him sneaking a couple of cans of beer out of the fridge.
Authoritative- The parents with the Authoritative parenting style would be upset, however they would talk to their child about the reasoning behind their decision to take beer. The parents would approach this situation cautiously and understanding, but stern. The parents would attempt to find out if there is any stressful situations taking place in the child's life or if he just decided that he wanted to have a couple drinks. If there was something stressful taking place they would ask why he didn't feel that he could talk to them rather then letting alcohol be the solution. The parents of the child would also stress the dangers of alcohol on minors as well as adults, and the potential trouble under age drinking can bring to himself from law enforcement officials as well as from his parents, and how abusing alcohol can easily ruin schooling.
Indulgent- The indulgent parents would not be upset that the child was drinking, however they would be upset that the child did not ask for the beer rather than stealing it. The parents would have been willing to give the alcohol to the child if he would have asked. They would probably tell the child that if he wanted to drink that they would have been willing to supply him with something rather than taking his parents beer. The parents would also be less upset about the situation than the authoritative parents which would show the child that drinking and taking beer is not a big deal. This could lead to many behavioral problems, and peer problems as well.
Scenario Three
Your 14-year-old son has brought home a very bad report card consisting of one "C", two "D"s, and a number of "F"s. This is his first bad report card. In the past, your son has gotten mostly "C"s and "B"s.
Authoritative- The authoritative parent would be upset with this drastic decrease that their child has shown on this most recent report card. Address the situation by determining if the bad grades were a result of lack of knowledge or just a lack of effort on the child's part. Design a study plan for the adolescent and make sure that your son completes his assigned homework every night as well as giving any extra needed help or guidance that he may need to help improve his performance.
Uninvolved- The uninvolved parent would not care about what kind of grades their child would be getting and would not care or be interested enough in their child to even check their report card. They would do nothing to help their child improve their grades as that would cause them to become more involved in their child's life forcing them to take part instead of being distant and mostly absent from normal interactions with the child. This could and most likely will lead to poor future performance as well as negatively effect development of emotional relationships later in life.
Your 14-year-old son has brought home a very bad report card consisting of one "C", two "D"s, and a number of "F"s. This is his first bad report card. In the past, your son has gotten mostly "C"s and "B"s.
Authoritative- The authoritative parent would be upset with this drastic decrease that their child has shown on this most recent report card. Address the situation by determining if the bad grades were a result of lack of knowledge or just a lack of effort on the child's part. Design a study plan for the adolescent and make sure that your son completes his assigned homework every night as well as giving any extra needed help or guidance that he may need to help improve his performance.
Uninvolved- The uninvolved parent would not care about what kind of grades their child would be getting and would not care or be interested enough in their child to even check their report card. They would do nothing to help their child improve their grades as that would cause them to become more involved in their child's life forcing them to take part instead of being distant and mostly absent from normal interactions with the child. This could and most likely will lead to poor future performance as well as negatively effect development of emotional relationships later in life.
Scenario Four
Your fourth grader starts to insist that she will wear only certain expensive brands of jeans, shoes, and tops, and they are so expensive that your budget could not afford much.
Authoritative- The authoritative parent may think about the situation with their child but will probably end up doing what is best for the majority. The parent will talk with their daughter and explain the situation that they are being put in and explain that buying such expensive brands are going to cause the family to have a limited budget for their necessities. The parent may think of an alternative like bringing the child thrift shopping where they could find expensive name brands at a fraction of the cost that way the family budget is not strained and the child will get the name brand clothes that they want.
Indulgent- The indulgent parent is going to buy their child the clothes even though it is going to leave them with little money to afford anything else. This parent is worried about giving their child everything and think that giving them everything is going to show their child that they care about them. This parent is going to do whatever the child desires even if the child doesn't show respect for them.
Your fourth grader starts to insist that she will wear only certain expensive brands of jeans, shoes, and tops, and they are so expensive that your budget could not afford much.
Authoritative- The authoritative parent may think about the situation with their child but will probably end up doing what is best for the majority. The parent will talk with their daughter and explain the situation that they are being put in and explain that buying such expensive brands are going to cause the family to have a limited budget for their necessities. The parent may think of an alternative like bringing the child thrift shopping where they could find expensive name brands at a fraction of the cost that way the family budget is not strained and the child will get the name brand clothes that they want.
Indulgent- The indulgent parent is going to buy their child the clothes even though it is going to leave them with little money to afford anything else. This parent is worried about giving their child everything and think that giving them everything is going to show their child that they care about them. This parent is going to do whatever the child desires even if the child doesn't show respect for them.