English Research Paper - Parenting

Parents are such a common thing with so many children and people in the world today. However, the differing parenting techniques used are vide and vast. Children and teenagers often question their parents and wonder why they do what they do. As children grow up and transition into young men and women, parents also wonder if they are doing what they need to insure the success for their children. There are many people who swear by a strict set of parenting guidelines, while others prefer loose rules and a dynamic form of parenting. When looking at what makes a good parent, it is important to look at this subject as of any other such as, “what makes a CEO successful”?. Through the research on this topic, it is seen that loving parents who let their children make their own decisions while implementing strong values are the best and most effective at ensuring their child’s success in the future..

People often learn from their mistakes- it is basic human nature. Controlling parents try to eliminate this process by protecting their child so that he or she does not make any mistakes at all. How are children supposed to learn as they are meant to do if they cannot make the required mistakes to learn from? Madeline Levine from the New York Times says “The central task of growing up is to develop a sense of self that is autonomous, confident and generally in accord with reality”. This means that it is not just beneficial to the child to learn from their mistakes, but it is necessary for them as a ‘central task’ of growing up. It is often said that in order to succeed,

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one must fail at first. It is important for a parent to make sure the child does not make a devastating mistake such as trying an illegal drug or something of the sort. These types mistakes are not beneficial to learn from. In Robert Kiyosaki’s book, Rich Dad Poor Dad, he says,

If you look at the way humans are designed to learn, we learn by making mistakes. We learn to walk by falling down. If we never fell down, we would never walk… The same is true for getting rich. Unfortunately, the main reason most people are not rich is because they are afraid of losing. Winner’s are not afraid of losing. But losers are. People who avoid failure, also avoid success” (147).

The way that children learn is also the way that investors, or entrepreneurs learn in their professional life. It is important for the parents to look at their children’s failures positively. Famous UFC fighters like Nate Marquardt nicknamed ‘the phenom’ have records of 14 wins and 11 losses. These men do not reach their goals by giving up or moving on when they do not do well. They are not afraid to lose.

Besides how a parent treats their child, parents background is also an important factor. It makes sense that people who are children of parents who were ready to have a child tend to be more successful. In the book Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, they found that