Authoritarian Parenting

I’ll be honest, I have read quite a few parenting books and many of them try to classify the type of parent you are. I remember reading about Authoritarian parenting also know as being strict. Now this style of parenting is bordering on “My way or the Highway” type style. The child is not allowed to talk back, they must just accept the rules that the parent lays out for them. Everything that I read about this style of parenting very often creates a child that is very withdrawn from others and has issues functioning socially. The child gets no freedom or choices so they basically wait for someone to tell them what to do next. You can clearly see that a child with an authoritarian parent could very easily end up with the wrong crowd and get themselves in trouble. There are many many cases where children whose parents use this style of parenting just end up running away at some point. This make me very sad because we brought a child into this world and I would hate to think that I did something to make that child want to run away. Listen, everyone’s parenting style is different but I much rather have an open dialogue with my child than control his or her every move – no one wants to live like that. Consider a parenting style that works best for the whole family.