James Baldwin's The Importance Of Parenting

According to a novelist, James Baldwin (n.d) states that “Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.” Parenting involves taking a look at how the parents come across to their children. Being a good parent does not mean that the parents are parent is very important. For a child to develop good emotional health, the parent needs to be sensitive to the problems of the child. Eryn Wicker a lifestyle expert (2012) emphasises in her article that it is important for parents to hear their children out, let their children think for themselves, and let them express themselves to formulate their own ideas. (Paragraph 5) Having children that can formulate their own ideas, and express

themselves freely can result in children who are confident and have high self-esteem. If parents are not involved with their children emotionally, children can face many complications as they grow up. As Moges and Webber state, complications can include having children who are social withdrawn, less engaged with their peers, and the child will find it difficult to manage their own emotions (paragraph 2)
It is important for a parent to balance their frustrations. Frustrations can include problems from work, stress of household chores, and the stress of taking care of children at the same time. Parents need to manage their frustrations in order to have a good emotional relationship. A good emotional relationship includes family member who can freely communicate with each other. In order to have a good emotional relationship, the parent needs to find different ways to deal with the many problems of life. Parents can manage the stress through doing something fun with the family like going on walks, having picnics, and family game night. Additionally, parents can spend time with their friends, and develop a network of parents who have advice about raising children. If parents spend time with their children, their children can develop good emotional health. As university professors Kirby Deator-Deckard, Nan Che, and Shereen El Mellah (2013) state, “parenting stress impair warm responsive parenting and provoke harsh caregiving”. If parents do not learn how to deal with their problems, parents may hinder the healthy emotional relationship they have with their children. Furthermore, if parents know how to deal with their stress, a warm atmosphere is emitted, and in turn their children will be positively impacted. Children are positively impacted because instead of the anxiety of worrying about their parents; the children are relaxed, and are able to effectively develop good emotional health. Good emotional health can be achieved when parents manage their emotions, and frustrations.
Just as emotional health is important for effective parenting, parents need to be aware of how important they are as a role model. When it comes to discipline, physical abuse should be seldom used. According to the government of Canada physical abuse is “ any form of physical, psychological, social, emotional or sexual maltreatment of a child”. Although physical abuse may be effective, there should be a limit as to how often, and what type of abuse parents use on their children. Physical abuse is effective when the parent enforces abuse to make the children mindful of their own actions. According to the medical doctor John Fletcher (2012), he states “ spanking is effective, unless practiced to excess” If parents continue to abuse their children often, their children may develop high levels of aggression, and the child may believe it is okay to abuse other children as well. If parents understand how much physical abuse can be used, effective parenting can happen. Instead of spanking, parents should make clear rules about what is expected of their children, and create effective consequences if those are not followed. Additionally, it is important for parents to keep their own consequences consistent because a child effectively learns what to do when actions are done repeatedly. An example of effective consequences could be taking away the child toys, establishing a time out, and a serious conversation with the child.
Parents should keep in mind how they are acting in front of their friends.

It is said that children are constantly watching their parents, and it is important for their parents to keep in mind how they are acting. When it comes to money spending, children should know the value of money, and it is important for parents to teach their children the value of money. If a child see’s the parent spending lots of money when they are shopping, the child may think money is a disposable object, and cause children to think people do not work hard for their money. Parents should also be aware of the language they use around their friends. As Cambridge states, “to most children, money seems to grow on tree’s”, and it is important for children to understand the value of money at an early age. If children learn the importance of money, children will learn to value their items, and will take better care of their toys. In the future, as they become teenagers, they will understand how hard it is to get money, and will respect and understand the value of money. Parents need to make sure they keep in mind how they spend their money, and act around their friends when their children are around. Parents should always keep in mind the importance of being a role model to their

children.
Parents also need to make sure how to effectively encourage their children. Effective encouraging includes parents who know how to praise, reward and support their children. According to the Psychology teacher Carol Dweck (2012), states that it is important to support “their effort, their strategies, their focus, their perseverance and their improvement.” Encouraging involves parents who know how not to focus solely on the successes of their child. When parents support and praise the process of trying again their children will develop a high self-esteem, and determination to deal with the future failures their children endure. For instance, if children fail and want to give up parents need to enforce the growth mindset. The growth mindset according to Dweck (2012) is a type of mindset that teaches children that they can still develop their abilities. Parents need to learn how to praise, reward, and support their children since encouraging their own children is an important role of a parent.
In conclusion, although children do not always listen to their elders it is still important for parents to teach their children values that were taught to them by their parents. Effective parenting starts with being able to effectively deal with the problems in their life, and let it not cloud their judgement when they are talking to their children. Furthermore, parents need to be aware of their behaviour when it comes to spending habits, and effectively disciplining your child. Lastly, in order to get important values across, parents need to keep in mind how they are encouraging their children to do their chores and how to deal with failure. If parents follow these steps, and analyze their own teaching styles, effective parenting will happen.