The Benefits of Positive Parenting

Positive reinforcement, empathy, and the absence of any kind of physical or verbal abuse at home are factors that lead to healthy lifestyles and good development in children. The term that encompasses all of these actions is: positive parenting.

Today we want to talk about a parenting model based on empathy, respect and affection. The benefits of positive parenting are perceived in the short term (almost immediately) and benefit children throughout their entire adult lives.

Screaming, hitting and violence transmit very negative foundations for both the present and future. On the other hand, positive parenting frees children and opens up many paths for them. Of course, the entire family should commit to shifting to this new child-rearing style.

What’s positive parenting?

The principles of this model, which extend from home parenting towards educational and institutional fields, aren’t complex. On the contrary, they’re few and very simple. It’s important to rule out all kinds of authoritarian actions, arbitrary and rigid systems, and abandonment.

In practice, it’s necessary to perform an exercise to learn to see, empathize with, and understand childhood. In fact, the child must be at the center of every decision, word, and action at home, at school, and even in society.

Some essential tips

Here are the central points of this philosophy:

• Avoid punishment, threats and shouting, as they negatively influence child development. Positive parenting creates future women and men who don’t act out of fear but out of ethics and conviction.
• Empathize. Ask children how they feel, what they’re thinking, and what they need to try to understand how they perceive the world around them.
• Make them feel protected. Children need to feel protected and valued. In “macho” cultures, it’s common for boys not to be consoled nor protected, even when they ask for it. However, this neglect only reinforces the inequality between women and men.
• Openly show affection. Not only kisses and hugs. Children also feel loved when they’re listened to, when parents share quality time with them, and when they’re given their own space.

• Provide a framework for action and containment. Coexistence rules should always be clear and transparent; it’s a mistake to believe that this child-rearing model doesn’t have any limits. On the contrary, one of the biggest benefits of positive parenting is that children internalize rules in a healthy way.
• Create a democratic coexistence. Home and school life have to be based on the consensus achieved by loving persuasion and continuous understanding.

The benefits of positive parenting

Experts have contemplated the degree of “parental stress” when it comes to this child-rearing model. In this regard, parents who adhere to this model will be more satisfied with their parenting.

These types of measures that promote positive parenting improve assertiveness, communication, problem-solving and conflict. This is why this child-rearing model benefits the entire household.

Conducted studies

Authors of various studies have stated the following benefits of positive parenting:

• Enhances children’s or teens’ optimal development in a harmonious environment where they have good relationships with their parents and caregivers.
• Unlike permissive or authoritarian parenting models, this model helps children understand and participate in coexistence standards.

  

• As children gain confidence thanks to this respectful child-rearing model, they become more self-sufficient. This means they know how to apply what they learn in different areas and situations.
• This model leads to a reduction in antisocial behavior in children and adolescents, meaning children gain self-control.
• Reduces parental stress. Parents’ fear of failure or guilt vanish when their child-rearing is based on empathy, respect, trust and clear rules.

In conclusion, the benefits of positive parenting are immediately perceived in daily interaction. A democratic style, clear rules, and a lack of violence open a bright horizon, not only for well-raised children but for the entire home environment.