Respectful Parenting vs Overparenting

September 25, 2022
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Where are the lines between being overprotective parents

or dedicated caregivers?

Nowadays, people talk about a crystal generation, and strong comparisons are constantly being made about past generations and the way children are being raised today.

The truth is that although there is greater concern about the emotional stability of children and how parenting can affect their adult life, perhaps this excess of care can generate other types of problems in them, being more sensitive to the normal turns of life.

Where is that gray line between being an overprotective parent or a caring parent?

Today the concerns of parents are far from the concerns that parents could have in the 80s and 90s. Caregivers understand the needs of their children and provide them with a fuller, more stable, and happier life. It’s true that there are certain concerns that haunt the heads of parents, who worry about raising their children:

According to the article: “Are You Overparenting? A child psychologist says these are the telltale signs” Posted on cnbc.com, these are the signs that she may be overprotective of her child, emerging autonomy from her.

“Overparenting can be defined in two ways, according to clinical psychologist Judith Locke.

The first being where parents can, with good intentions, end up over-assisting their child with tasks, such as homework. However, this can result in the child struggling to develop essential skills, Locke explained to CNBC on a video call.

The second interpretation of this, are those parents who are “extremely responsive,” said Locke. Responsiveness refers to the level of love, care, affection, and praise a parent gives to a child.

Locke explained that “extreme responsiveness is not just having a good relationship with the child through special quality time and things like that, but actually describing a child as your best friend, praising them so much that they don’t get used to any constructive criticism, or they are needing that regular reassurance of praise”.

Locke is the author of “The Bonsai Child,” which uses the analogy of this type of tree to describe how raising a child in an overprotected environment makes them less adaptable to the real world.

These attitudes, far from helping the child, affect their social life, their self-concept and the relationship they have with the outside world; creating constant feelings of insecurity. The best way to deal with parenthood is always to find a way to accompany the child in the right measure, leaving him alone to face the challenges of life, with a responsible company from his caregivers.

Parenting is a very important issue, since we are training the generations of tomorrow, who will be in charge of taking care of the world and humanity, raising them safely and responsibly is everyone’s job. If you are interested in learning more about the subject, we recommend the following bibliography: