Parenting and discipline techniques have traditionally been passed on from mother to daughter and father to son, but with the advent of the information age it is easier than ever to find parenting advice outside the family network.
While some of the advice is backed by scientific research and is respectful of parents and children, some of it has the potential to be harmful. Here are a few ways to determine whether parenting advice is safe.
Check the Qualifications of Parenting Experts
One of the first places to start when evaluating parenting advice is to ask what qualifications the advisor or expert has. Maybe it is a grandmother who has 16 grandchildren, or a neuropsychologist with several years of research experience.
Some parenting experts are legitimately self-taught and having a university degree or license to practice medicine is not an automatic stamp of approval, but it is important to keep the expert's background in mind when evaluating his or her advice.
Parenting Advice Can Become Outdated
As the understanding of the human brain, child development and safety precautions become more advanced, parenting advice changes to reflect the new knowledge. The way children were raised even a generation ago is quite different than the recommendations made to new parents today, especially regarding breastfeeding, car seat safety, putting babies to sleep on their backs and the use of corporal punishment. Even if a well-respected grandmother advises a few drops of whiskey to calm a screaming baby, always double check with an up-to-date source.
Parenting With Respect
The last way to verify parenting advice is by one's personal moral and ethical standards. Many popular, well qualified and up-to-date parenting experts advise using parenting techniques to control a child's behavior that many adults would not allow to be used to control their own behavior.
It is a parent's job to be responsible for her children and to teach them socially acceptable ways to behave, but it is possible to do so in a way that is respectful of the child's innate goodness and humanity. The best way to teach respect is to model it, so choose parenting techniques and advice that demonstrate respect for the child.
Navigating the sea of parenting experts, advice, magic techniques and gimmicks designed to control or subdue children can be bewildering. Parents can start separating out the quality parenting advice from the chaff by checking the qualifications of parenting experts, looking up current knowledge and recommendations and using personal moral and ethical guidelines.
Even after all the experts have been consulted, parents always have their own intuition to guide them regarding their child's needs and behavior. A parent often knows his or her own child better than any expert.
Michelle Carchrae - Michelle Carchrae has worked as a Volunteer Phone Counselor at Childline and as a Training Developer and Call Centre Trainer, but the job ...
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