Parenting is the process of raising children and ensuring their healthy development into adulthood.
Parenting encompasses providing, protecting, and caring for a child. Parents are among the most pivotal figures in a young child’s life.
From birth, children rely on and learn from their parents, as well as other caregivers who assume parental roles. These adults are entrusted with meeting their needs, ensuring their well-being, and shielding them from harm.
Parenting
While most parents look forward to seeing their children’s personalities develop, many lack the knowledge to provide proper care for them. Although becoming a parent is typically a joyous experience, there are times when parents face difficulties and uncertainties regarding their abilities to ensure the physical, emotional, or financial well-being of their children.
There are many facets to parenting. Parents need a broad and deep understanding to cater to their children’s varied needs. This includes grasping developmental milestones for their child’s safety and health, as well as understanding the roles of professionals such as Educators, Child Care Providers, Health Care Providers, Social Workers, and Social Systems such as institutions, laws, and policies that interact with families and support parenting.
Enhancing the connection between parent and child can foster optimal growth and development. This is realised when parents know how to address their children’s basic physical needs like hunger and emotional needs such as comfort or reassurance.
For young children to reach their full potential, parents must understand balanced nutrition, safe sleeping practices, ways to soothe a crying infant, and how to show love and affection.
Family Life
According to Britannica, a family is a group of persons united by the ties of marriage, blood, or adoption, constituting a single household and interacting with each other in their respective social positions, usually those of spouses, parents, children, and siblings.
Since we now understand what family means, then we can say that “Family life is one’s life with family.”
Family can never be overrated or overemphasised because it holds great significance in all communities. Since communities are made up of families, family life profoundly shapes an individual’s experience.
Examples of family life include social meals, engaging conversations, debates, entertainment, leisure activities, travel adventures, collaborative work, pastimes, holiday celebrations, rituals, and participation in cultural and community events.
The Importance of Family
1. A healthy family made up of good parenting is found to be associated with enhanced emotional control, obedience, excellent academic performance, social competence, and resilience.
2. It prevents anti-social behaviours in teens.
3. It fosters adolescents’ sense of identity and promotes self-esteem.
4. It reduces levels of adolescent depression and delinquency.
5. It helps to successfully navigate and foster meaningful future relationships.
Researched By: Olamide Opebiyi
