PARENTING 101

Question: How should adults in 2012 "parent" their children? Lend your opinion on how this should be done. Think about the approach your parents/guardians have taken in raising you. Consider the parenting you've seen of others in your peer group (how your extended family parents your cousins, or how your friends parents deal with your friends), and finally, think about the parent you might want to be someday. How would you go about raising your children? What standards would you hold them to (if any), what rules would you impose (if any)?

              I don't believe that there is any one 'correct' way to parent a child. I like to think I was raised well enough, but I feel that that depends completely on circumstance, and the individuals. A person born in one area may respond better to one way of parenting, and others even in the same place may respond much better to completely different tactics. However, there are certain similarities between groups of people with common attributes. religion and political affiliation are two major examples of this. Each religion carries with it certain traditions, behaviors, and values that can be extremely formative, and each political party its own common goals ideology.  People brought up under the same principles tend to be like others with the same upbringings. 

             Now, no one of these is any better than another, and in fact many people with the same upbringings interpret their values in drastically different ways. Because of this, I think that parenting should be tailored to the child, rather than arbitrarily created based on someone else. I think that a good parent, without going into specifics, should be able to help their child to understand society, make sure that the receive what they need in terms of food, clothing, shelter, and education. However this is done does not matter, so long as the parent ensures that they do the very best that they can for their child. In terms of advising the child, and letting them figure things out for themselves, this also depends on the child. In To Kill A Mockingbird, both Jem and Scout are very self sufficient. Because of this, Atticus' brand of complete honesty and distant guidance is very well suited to them, and his ability to allow his children to live up to their full potential and make their own decisions makes him a great parent. 
             If and when I become a parent, I will not make my children try to achieve anything out of their reach. I will not decide what goals and standards they should have without seeing first what they are capable of.