Parenting Styles in US - from Authoritative to Helicopter (2)

Besides these four basic parenting styles, in recent years, new parenting styles have emerged in the new generation. Tracey Frost, CEO of citibabes.com has replaced Authoritarian parenting with three more definitions:

1) Instinctive Parenting
Using the same style of parenting as they have been parented and taught as children, "go with your gut" style which is usually affected by the parents' own upbringing.

2) Attachment Parenting
Aiming to build strong emotional bond between parents and children, sensitive, very responsive to children's needs, opposite to uninvolved parenting.

3) Helicopter Parenting

As mentioned and explained in previous blog entries, it refers to parents who hover their children like helicopter, worry much about their children's safety and security.  Helicopter parents tend to maintain tight control of their children, from choosing food with most nutrients, education safety, school grades bargain, extracurricular activities, help children do academic projects, and in some extreme extent, help them to negotiate job terms and salary level. 

It has been said that the popularity of technology products such as cell phones and the increasingly competitibe society that has lad to the boom in helicopter parents.

As Frost suggested, parenting style is no more restricted to the four as it shifts from generation to generation. She suggested it is important to bring the family together and create family time. Below is a short video of her talking about parenting style:

How Family Ties Affect Children (click on the link!)

In upcoming entries, I will begin to discuss more on the impact of such parenting styles, especially Helicopter parents.



Reference:

Baumrind D. 1966. Effects of authoritative parental control on child behavior. Child Development, 37(4), 887-907.

Baumrind, D. (1991). Effective parenting during the early adolescent transition. In P.A. Cowan & E. M. Hetherington (Eds.), Advances in family research (Vol. 2). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Maccoby EE and Martin JA. 1983. Socialization in the context of the family: Parent–child interaction. In P. H. Mussen (ed) and E. M. Hetherington (vol. ed.), Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 4. Socialization, personality, and social development (4th ed., pp. 1-101). New York: Wiley.

McGolerick, E. (2011). Definitions of Parenting Styles [Parenting / Parenting Tips & Advice / Parenting Advice & Columns]. Retrieved from http://www.sheknows.com/parenting/articles/819528/5-parenting-styles-for-a-new-generation

Steinberg L. 2001. We know some things: Parent-adolescent relationshgips in retrospect and prospect. Journal of research on adolescence 11(1): 1-19.

Steinberg, L.D., & Silk, J.S. (2002). Parenting adolescents. In M. Bornstein (Ed.), Handbook of parenting (2nd ed., Vol.1). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.