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Parenting Roles in Child Development

Parenting doesn’t come with a manual. No one ever said that raising kids is easy. They come with emotional, physical, and financial needs that must be met. Failure to fulfill your parental duties can have a long-term effect on a child. The Role of parents is critical in raising responsible adults. Behavior-related psychologists always encourage parents to be engaged in their children’s lives for a positive outcome.

The Impact of Childhood on their Adulthood

Before discussing our influence on our children’s lives, let’s reflect on our childhood. How were you nurtured? What was the attachment style? How do you feel about your childhood now? Does it have an impact on who you are today? Is it your parenting preference? Is it associated with how you relate to people at work or in social environments?

Research shows that individuals with highly adverse childhood experiences struggle with mental health issues like depression and anxiety. Correspondingly, this affects how the person processes emotions, communicates, responds to stressors, and makes emotional connections.

Besides the adverse experiences, positive experiences are linked to better family health. Children who experience more emotional support from their families may have better mental health. These children have high self-esteem and self-confidence, which is a good foundation for healthy relationships.

The conclusion is that positive early childhood development directly influences the long-term child’s health outcomes and enhances future opportunities, school achievement, and financial success.

So, what is the Role of parents in their children’s lives?

Parents often wonder if they are enough for their children; some wonder if they are spoiling the child too much, while others question if they are stricter. These worries are answered in this article. According to a parenting tool by the center for parenting education, parenting roles can be divided into two; nurture and structural.

Structural Role of Parents

The structuring Role involves you as a parent giving your child a ‘structure.’ You are responsible for,

Imposing rules
Giving directions
Disciplining
Setting limits
Holding your children accountable for their actions
Teaching values like generosity, forgiveness, patience, respect, and honesty.

In the structural Role, you give guidance that helps your child transition from one stage to the other as they grow. Depending on the child’s maturity level, you teach responsible behavior.

The importance of structural roles includes the following

They can make their own decisions.
Children learn from their mistakes.
Become self-sufficient
They become less selfish.
They learn to tolerate reasonable life’s frustrations
They can internalize your values and rules and feel safe
Strengthen the bond between parents and child.

Some parents need help carrying out the structural roles healthily. Surprisingly, this is vital for your child’s development. You have to teach, discipline, guide and have reasonable expectations from them.

Parents who dwell so much on structural roles may be harsh and rigid, and the child can experience problems making decisions for themselves. This may cause them to rebel or become passive. On the other hand, more structural responsibility causes the child to be confused and feel less protected. With little structural balance, children may become mischievous since they are not held accountable for their behavior.

Nurturing Role of Parents in their Children

The nurturing Role of parents expects you to;

Give love and attention through communication and actions
Take care of your child’s basic needs, such as shelter, education, water, medical care, clothing, and food.
Provide a safe environment. Keep your child away from sexual, emotional, and physical abuse. As a parent, get to know your child’s caregivers and correct any potential danger surrounding the child.
Support and understand your child. Accept your child’s uniqueness and encourage them to participate in activities, sports, or clubs. Remember to let them be and don’t push them.
Listen to your child and have fun with them.
Respect their feelings, opinions, and privacy. Allow your child to be themselves.
Show interest in what they do and encourage them to follow their passions
Follow up on their education by ensuring they finish their homework and attend school meetings.
Talk to your child daily and learn about their interests in school.

When you nurture, you accept your child for who they are and their stage. Additionally, you are satisfied with who you are and can execute your duties well.

Nurtured children feel good about themselves; they feel lovable and listened to. Also, they become trusting when their needs are met. When you fail to nurture your child enough, you become emotionally distant. Too much nurturing causes the child to learn fewer skills and don’t learn to be responsible in life.

Some Useful Parenting Tips to Make Your Child’s Growing Years Worthy

As the scripture teaches, `Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. ‘ (Prov. 22:6.) A parent is responsible for nurturing their children into responsible and caring adults. Some tips for attaining this include;

Be emotionally present.
Communicate effectively
Be affectionate and assure them of your unconditional love
Set routines for the screen, play, sleep, or eating
Be positive and teach them to have a positive approach and attitude toward life
Understand their needs, regardless of how small they are
Set clear limits on their behavior
Have realistic expectations with their academics, activities, or duties
Take care of yourself, your attitude, and how you show respect to others
Spend quality time with your child by engaging in activities that help you learn about each other.

Who has parental responsibility?

The constitution of Kenya, 2010, accords every child’s right to parental care. The mother and father have equal responsibilities to provide for the child, whether married, separated, or divorced. The basic affairs of the child are to be ruled by the principle of the ‘Best interest of the child.’

The parent-child relationship is the most powerful mental health intervention known for humans.