Authoritative Parenting: What Does It Mean To Be An Authoritarian?

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My parents were authoritarians. Especially my dad. Everything had to be done his way, on his time. Like most authoritarian parents he was not a very loving or warm person (Boyd, 2016). Every day, I was expected to get up at 4am, feed and water the chickens, collect any eggs, feed the horses, then get to the bus stop by 5am. I then took a 2 hour bus ride to school. If I missed the bus, I would not only get grounded to some sort of cleaning chore, but I would also get punished by getting spanked. Normally missing a bus would just be a few spanks from a belt.

When I got home from school I was expected to go straight in the house and do all my homework. Then after dinner I could ride my horse, or do something productive but quiet outside. …show more content…

With him, as well as my grandma and grandpa, being raised in Germany, it was normal in their culture to be authoritarian. During and after WW2, authoritative parenting was normal. “Authoritarian parents valued obedience for the sake of obedience. Diana Baumrind, describing this style in the late 1960’s, described authoritarian parents as believing that their job was to socialize children to act ‘appropriately’. In other words, they believed a good parent was a parent who (lovingly) bent the child to their will. Objectively, authoritarian parents demanded compliance, but were relatively low in warmth( Darling, 2010)”. This sounds just like my family. My grandmother is a proud, strong German woman, and wouldn't let her family act out. I have heard many stories about him getting beat with a broom by my grandma from him acting out. This is something, that when I have kids, I will break the cycle. I do not think that a child deserves to be be beat with a belt or a broom, or anything else. I think that being respectful and teaching your child to be respectful and kind are very important.

I think that when Parenting can end is different for everyone. For me, my mom left my dad when I was 12, and he never had to parent me again. My brother and I no longer saw him, and he never had any other kids that were younger than us. For my mom, parenting ended recently. She got very sick, and lost some brain function. She no longer can parent, because he brain doesn't work properly, but there are plenty of people that I think are parents from when they have a baby until they die. They still give advice to their children, and still help them make decisions in life, even when “kids” are not

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