Anyone who does not think that different dispensation comes with different parenting styles will make a lot of mistakes in parenting. It does not matter who is involved. Times have changed, hence a lot of things have changed as well. The parenting style prevalent in the 80s cannot fit into the 90s and the 21st century. The present-day parents were trained in their 80s and 90s by their parents. Hence, it is imperative to note that the parenting style adopted by these present-day parents is quite different from how they were trained. Consequently, it can be observed from the sharp differences in the character and behaviour of the children.
COMPARATIVE ANALYSES OF THE PARENTING STYLE BETWEEN THE 80S/90S AND THAT OF THE 20TH/21ST
Parenting of the 80s and 90s was in military in nature. The children were trained in such a militarised way. That’s why we had lots of disciplined citizens who could conquer their emotions. Children were trained to be strong, especially the boys. They were introduced to difficult circumstances and were allowed to figure out a solution by themselves. Girl children were trained to be subservient to the boys, they were trained to respect and be submissive. They were never allowed to compare themselves with the boys. At this time, gender roles were well pronounced, and each gender understood their roles and responsibilities in the home. Interestingly is the fact that fathers were always fearful. As a result of this, children did not have a close relationship with their fathers, which was because fathers were disciplinarians and always high-handed when disciplining the children. A typical example is that whenever fathers are at home, the children tend to comport themselves and behave well.
Another aspect of parenting at that time was the fact that the children were owned by the community, hence, any member of the community could discipline a child irrespective of the parent. Hence, children were well-mannered in the presence of elders. It was such that after you had been disciplined by an outsider, at home you would also be disciplined by your parent.
Meanwhile, parenting in the 20th and 21st centuries is the direct opposite of what it used to be in the 80s and 90s. This is evidenced in the behaviours and character of the people. Consequently, we now have gender and identity crises as a result of bad parenting. In today’s world, parent hardly spank their children. They merely use a cane on them. The parenting style is merely a laissez-faire or unconcerned kind of parenting occasioned by excessive love for the children. I am a product of the 90s parenting style, hence I’d prefer our society to look back on such a parenting style because it was helpful not only to the respective families but to society at large.
However, an attempt at adopting an olden day parenting approach on a 21st-century child might not work because of the dispensation. It will be disastrous because society might not see it as a proper thing to do.
