child rearing

Many parents have their own ways of rearing the children they bring into this world. And many will argue whether one’s way of rearing a child is valid or not when compared to another’s method of child upbringing. One of the biggest challenges of being a parent is the upbringing methods of a child.

Child rearing methods have changed somewhat in the past several decades. Some will agree that it has since become more challenging as time goes on for every new generation. But what could be the cause of this change, and why would people agree that it has become more difficult to rear a child in this world now, than if it had been 50 years ago? The answer can be summed up in one word: technology.

Times are changing they are. And as time goes by, new technologies are introduced into the world. Because of the advances in technologies, the world has become a more demanding and fast-paced place to live in. Economies have since been impacted through out these technological advances… And one can only presume that such technologies are what move our economies. For the most part, depending on what part of the world you live in, has an affect on how parents enforce their child rearing methods. To pin-point a more common ground on this subject, I will focus on child rearing in the United States.

And what a better place to focus in on than the U.S. The U.S. is probably the most technologically advanced country in the world. But more importantly, it is also probably the most diverse as far as cultural and religion methods are concerned. This makes it more interesting to research on this matter. The most interesting fact I’ve researched is that for the most part no matter what type of financial stature parents come from whether rich or poor, the way they rear a child is basically the same all around based on moral values that have been instilled to them by their own parents. However, ironically enough, some of these moral values fade with time (as mentioned before). Back in the old days, it was easy because the man (father) went to work, and the woman (mother) stayed at home, and provided the upbringing of their children. And life was good. The average family in America only 50 years ago lived in the ‘middle-income’ bracket with only a man’s salary. So a woman really didn’t have to go to work. This is slowly bringing up the matter of, ‘so does it make a difference if there is only one parent rearing the child, rather than two?’

Some will argue that a child needs a both a father and a mother figure. But this is not altogether very true. While it may be a bit less challenging for a normal mother-father family, a single parent can substantially provide strong and effective child rearing methods as well.

Going back to the advances in technology, what happens when both parents are off to work (which is the scenario for the most part nowadays) and the child is basically dropped off at school during the day? This is where most of the values are lost, because now children are learning from the schools and their environment surrounding them rather than from the ‘stay at home mom’ like back in the old days, where the mother would teach her children moral values and upbringing.

Regardless, the way a child is reared also has to do with the methods parents use to rear a child such as stern and forceful rearing, passive rearing, positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, punishment and extinction. The use of these methods may yield different results.

Certain conditions have to be met when using the positive reinforcement approaches of which include:
:
• A consequence is presented dependent on a behavior. • The behavior becomes more likely to occur. • The behavior becomes more likely to occur because and only because the consequence is presented dependent on the behavior.

In Negative Reinforcement a particular behavior is strengthened by the consequence of the stopping or avoiding of a negative condition. Negative Reinforcement is often confused with Punishment. They are very different, however. Negative Reinforcement strengthens a behavior because a negative condition is stopped or avoided as a consequence of the behavior. Punishment, on the other hand, weakens a behavior because a negative condition is introduced or experienced as a consequence of the behavior.

In Punishment, adding something unpleasant in order to decrease a behavior. The most common example of this is spanking a child for misbehaving. The reason we do this is because the child begins to associate being punished with the negative behavior. The punishment is not liked and therefore to avoid it, he or she will stop behaving in that manner.

And lastly, in extinction, you remove something in order to decrease a behavior. This is similar to punishment, but more commonly used especially among younger children.

Each one of these methods has both good and bad effects on a child’s personality. Research has shown that forceful rearing is one least liked by children. Forceful child-rearing (also known as authoritarian parents), are strict methods (which most of the time include positive reinforcement) employed by parents to discipline and instill moral values to their children. Parents who use forceful and strict child rearing practices often use positive reinforcements, such as praise, approval, and rewards. By doing so, this gives the child an opportunity to realize the benefits associated with adhering to behavioral standards. The success of positive social reinforcement in resulting desirable behavior is well attained. A parent's positive response to good behavior may be the most powerful tool the parent has for increasing child compliance and decreasing the need for disciplinary action. The downfall is there are several cases where children develop uncaring, and resistance to this type of method. No matter how persistent a parent is; the child may simply not comply for whatever reasons, most being the need of professional medical attention where a child-psychologist may have to intervene.

Passive child-rearing involves more of a verbal approach, where parents use no strict force methods, only words. This method is less effective according to research. There is still the option of using both positive and negative reinforcements in this role. But because certain laws restrain parents from using force in rearing, it becomes the ‘safest’ method of use. This method has the potential to create a less caring parent and child at the same time. This goes back to the effects of how the times have changed. Regardless, to spank a child should be allowable in all cases when rearing a child.

So for my final thought: In parenting, as in other scenario, nothing is guaranteed to work all of the time. It is almost always dependent on a trial-and-error basis. As a parent, try a different approach and see which one is most effective. I think it is safe to say, however, that stern forceful child rearing (spanking the kid when it deserves to be spanked!) works better than most other parenting methods when enforcing the development of social competence in children both at home and out in public. High levels of nurturance combined with moderate levels of control help parents be responsible child rearing figures for their children and help children become mature, competent members of society as a whole.

http://www.drspock.com/article/0,1510,4008,00.html
What Research Has Taught about Child-Rearing by Dr. Benjamin Spock

http://www.casanet.org/program-management/diversity/cultural-child.htm
The National CASA Volunteer Training Curriculum, Unit 3 Cultural Awareness
Author: National CASA

Gender Complementarity and Child-rearing: Where Tradition and Science Agree
A. Dean Byrd, Ph.D. MBA, MPH*
S. J. QUINNEY COLLEGE OF LAW
Journal Of Law & Family Studies
University Of Utah
VOLUME 6 NUMBER 2

http://www.ericdigests.org/1992-3/parents.htm
Publication Date: 1992-00-00
Author: Moore, Shirley G.
Source: ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education Urbana IL.