Saturday, February 16, 2013

Parents' Influence

The book goes on to describe what attachment is and I think that is obvious. Infants who become close to parents or other caregivers have a higher tendency to be amiable, independent, self-confident children. Those who are not attached to their parents or caregiver may lead them to become immature, unpopular and prone to disruptive behavior. The attachment is important in adolescence too.

Researches have found common categories of ways to parent. The ideal way is authoritative parenting. This is when the caregiver provides a loving and supportive home, have high expectations, and let children in the decision making. These children normally turn out to be happy, energetic, confident and self-reliant. As a result they make friends easily with their good social skills and are sympathetic. Another result is that the children do better in academics. This is the way teachers should treat their students in the classroom. However in some situations authoritative parenting may not be best.


       

(A loving, inspiring, high standard family that everyone deserves.)


Caregivers who are Asian American may exercise authoritarian parenting where they are controlling.
Usually the students do well in school. With Asian American students they put high expectations on obedience and those who follow the principles of Confucianism do not question a parent. The book does not have studies about how the last two styles do. In low-income neighborhoods an authoritarian parenting style may be best because with danger lurking around the corner (good phrase from Ormrod) they may need to be strict. Trying to communicate high standards may not be able to be done because of the stressful situation. A caregiver may work a lot and be too exhausted to explain why a certain behavior is wrong.

Teachers should not point fingers but do the best they can on treating students no matter what the parenting style. Not just parenting problems provide a challenge but also mental illness, marital conflict, etc. can be a challenge to deal with. Parenting styles seem only to have a moderate effect on students' personalities. Many children thrive despite inadequate parenting styles unless they have a situation dominated by abuse and neglect. A teacher needs to be on the lookout for child maltreatment. Bruises, lack of warm clothes when it's cold, chronic hunger are some signs. Obviously mistreatment will hamper their experience in school. A teacher has an obligation to report to the proper authorities when they suspect abuse.

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