parenting

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Parenting is the process of promoting and supporting the physical, emotional, social, and intellectual development of a child from infancy to adulthood. Parenting refers to the activity of raising a child rather than the biological relationship.^[1]

In the case of humans, it is usually done by the biological parents of the child in question,^[2] although governments and society take a role as well. In many cases, orphaned or abandoned children receive parental care from non-parent blood relations. Others may be adopted, raised by foster care, or be placed in an orphanage.

The goals of human parenting are debated. Usually, parental figures provide for a child's physical needs, protect them from harm, and impart in them skills and cultural values until they reach legal adulthood, usually after adolescence. Among non-human species, parenting is usually less lengthy and complicated, though mammals tend to nurture their young extensively. The degree of attention parents invest in their offspring is largely inversely proportional to the number of offspring the average adult in the species produces.

Parental duties

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There is general consensus around parents providing the basic necessities, with increasing interest in children's rights within the home environment.

Play is considered to be a child's work, and encompasses all three elements of physical, emotional, and intellectual development.

Parenting models, tools, philosophies and practices

It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Parenting styles. (Discuss)

Although race may be a significant contributing factor, social class, wealth, and income have the strongest impact on what methods of child rearing are used by parents.^[3] Lack of money is found to be the defining factor in the style of child rearing that is chosen, and minorities are more likely to have less wealth or assets available for use in their children's upbringing.^[4] Societal values and norms of a generation also have an effect, as in the United States where authoritarian parenting was the most popular until the 1960s when a backlash made permissive parenting the most popular in the 1970s.

Models of parenting

Developmental psychologist Diana Baumrind identified three main parenting styles in early child development: authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive.^[5][6][7][8] Maccoby and Martin expanded the styles to four: authoritative, authoritarian, indulgent and neglectful.^[9][10] These four styles of parenting involve combinations of acceptance and responsiveness on the one hand and demand and control on the other.^[11]

There is no single or definitive model of parenting. What may be right for one family or one child may not be suitable for another. With authoritative and permissive (indulgent) parenting on opposite sides of the spectrum, most conventional and modern models of parenting fall somewhere in between.

• Slow parenting – Encourages parents to plan and organise less for their children, instead allowing them to enjoy their childhood and explore the world at their own pace.

• Nurturant parent model – A family model where children are expected to explore their surroundings with protection from their parents.

• Strict father model – An authoritarian approach, places a strong value on discipline as a means to survive and thrive in a harsh world.

• Attachment parenting – Seeks to create strong emotional bonds, avoiding physical punishment and accomplishing discipline through interactions recognizing a child's emotional needs all while focusing on holistic understanding of the child.

Christian parenting

It has been suggested that this section be split into a new article titled Christian parenting. (Discuss)

In the United States, disparate models explicitly termed "Christian parenting" are popular among some parents who claim to apply biblical principles to parenting. Information on Christian parenting is found in publications, Christian parenting websites, and in seminars devoted to helping parents apply Christian principles to parenting.^{[citation needed]}

While some Christian parenting models are strict and authoritarian,^[which?] others are "grace-based" and share methods advocated in attachment parenting and positive parenting theories. Particularly influential on opposite sides have been James Dobson and his book Dare to Discipline,^[12] and William Sears who has written several parenting books including The Complete Book of Christian Parenting & Child Care and The Discipline Book.

In a study^[13] of Christian parents done by Christian Parenting Today in 2000, 39% of the families surveyed have family devotions once a week or more, and 69% of parents consider Sunday school, youth and children's programs extremely important.

Other models of parenting

• Taking Children Seriously – Sees both praise and punishment as manipulative and harmful to children and advocates other methods to reach agreement with them.

• Parenting For Everyone – The philosophy of Parenting For Everyone, which stems from the book by the same name, considers parenting from the ethical point of view. It analyzes parenting goals, conditions and means of childrearing. It offers to look at a child's internal world (emotions, intelligence and spirit) and derive the sources of parenting success from there. The concept of heart implies the child's sense of being loved and their ability to love others. The concept of intelligence implies the child's morals. And the concept of spirit implies the child's desire to do good actions and avoid bad behavior, avoid encroaching upon anybody's dignity. The core concept of the philosophy of Parenting For Everyone is the concept of dignity, the child's sense of worthiness and justice.

Parenting practices

• Rules of traffic – an instructional approach to discipline where parents explain to their children how to behave, teaching the rules of behavior as they would the rules of traffic, with little explanation or deeper moral and social implications.

• Fine gardening – parents believe that children have positive and negative qualities, the latter of which parents should "weed out" or "prune" into an appropriate shape.

• Rewards and punishments – a method of discipline based on logic: for a good behavior the child receives a reward or praise, and for a bad or unwanted behavior the child receives a punishment or reprimand. To teach a child by this logic may be very effective if it is done consistently.

• Concerted cultivation – fostering children's talents through organized leisure activities. Parents challenge their children to think critically and to speak properly and frequently, especially with other adults.

Parenting across the child's lifespan

Planning and pre-pregnancy

Family planning is the decision whether and when to become parents, including planning, preparing, gathering resources. Reproductive health and preconceptional care affect pregnancy, reproductive success and maternal and child physical and mental health.

Pregnancy and prenatal parenting

During pregnancy the unborn child is affected by many decisions his or her parents make, particularly choices linked to their lifestyle. The health and diet decisions of the mother can have either a positive or negative impact on the child during prenatal parenting.

Many people believe that parenting begins with birth, but the mother begins raising and nurturing a child well before birth. Scientific evidence indicates that from the fifth month on, the unborn baby is able to hear sound, be aware of motion, and possibly exhibit short-term memory. Several studies (e.g. Kissilevsky et al., 2003) show evidence that the unborn baby can become familiar with his or her parents' voices. Other research indicates that by the seventh month, external schedule cues influence the unborn baby's sleep habits. Based on this evidence, parenting actually begins well before birth.

Depending on how many children the mother carries also determines the amount of care needed during prenatal and post-natal periods.

Newborns and Infants

Newborn parenting, up to one month of age, is where the responsibilities of parenthood begins. A newborn's basic needs are food, sleep, comfort and cleaning which the parent provides. An infant's only form of communication is crying, and attentive parents will begin to recognize different types of crying which represent different needs such as hunger, discomfort, boredom, or loneliness. Newborns and young infants require feedings every few hours which is disruptive to adult sleep cycles. They respond enthusiastically to soft stroking, cuddling and caressing. Gentle rocking back and forth often calms a crying infant, as do massages and warm baths. Newborns may comfort themselves by sucking their thumb or a pacifier. The need to suckle is instinctive and allows newborns to feed. Breastfeeding is the recommended method of feeding by all major infant health organizations.^[14] If breastfeeding is not possible or desired, bottle feeding is the alternative.

The forming of attachments is considered to be the foundation of the infant/child's capacity to form and conduct relationships throughout life. Attachment is not the same as love and/or affection although they often go together. Attachment and attachment behaviors tend to develop between the age of 6 months and 3 years. A lack of attachment or a seriously disrupted capacity for attachment could potentially amount to serious disorders.

Until infants learn to walk, between 10 and 14 months, they are carried in the arms, held in slings or baby carriers, or transported in baby carriages or strollers. Upon learning to walk the child is then known as a toddler.

Toddlers

When the infant becomes a toddler, (generally 1 year after birth) the parents must begin to provide basic training of different types. Of the skills the child learns at this stage, many of them are motor skills and coordination. The child must learn to crawl, sit up, and eventually walk. They must develop their hand-eye coordination from pre-basic levels to higher levels of sophistication. Most speaking ability also develops at this stage, and parents must encourage lingual development by attempting to talk with the child, get them to understand basic gestures and emotional displays, and in most developed countries, eventually teach them to read and write. (This skill overlaps with the next stage of development.)

As the child develops and they learn to speak and move on their own, their curiosity sometimes "drives them like a motor." They will be able to crawl off staircases and swallow dangerous objects all on their own at this point, and parents will have to protect their child by protecting them, and in turn, showing them how some things (swallowing objects, falling off stairs) are dangerous.

Child

Parents are expected to make important decisions about preschool education and early childhood education. Parents have to love and care for their preschoolers doing all that they can to keep them safe. It is important not to keep things laying around that is dangerous to small children and items that say keep out of reach of children. Children at this age are very likely to put things in their mouths and eat and drink things that are dangerous to their health.

Adolescents

During adolescence children are beginning to form their identity and are testing and developing the interpersonal and occupational roles that they will assume as adults. Although adolescents look to peers and adults outside of the family for guidance and models for how to behave, parents remain influential in their development. Parents often feel isolated and alone in parenting adolescents^[15], but they should still make efforts to be aware of their adolescents activities, provide guidance, direction, and consultation. Adolescence can be a time of high risk for children, where newfound freedoms can result in decisions that drastically open up or close off life opportunities. Parental issues at this stage of parenting include dealing with "rebellious" teenagers, who didn't know freedom while they were smaller.

Adults

• Young adults – as children become young adults their personalities show the result of successful or unsuccessful parenting. Especially it is noticeable when young adults make their independent life decisions about their education, work and choosing mates for friendship or marriage.

• Middle age and old age – Parenting doesn't stop when children grow up and age. Parents always remain to be parents for old children. Their relationship continues developing if both parties want to keep it or improve. The parenting issues may include the relationship with grandchildren and stepchildren.

Assistance

Parents may receive assistance from a variety of individuals and organizations. Employers may offer specific benefits or programs for parents. Another source of assistance is other parents. Using the advice of other parents is sometimes the best advice due to the fact that some have lived through exactly what you are experiencing

See also

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Parenting

Look up parenting in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

References