Bad Parenting
In Mount Morris Township near flint Michigan, there was a school shooting at Theo J. Buell Elementary. A six year old boy brought a .32 caliber gun to his class and shot a girl in his class. The boy, “had been living in a drug-infested flophouse where police found stolen guns and drugs, authorities said” (“Slaying”).
Previously the mother was evicted from her original home, so he and his brothers were staying at their uncle’s home. The boys slept on the couch and were exposed to drugs and guns. If he was cared for correctly then most likely the shooting would not have happened.
The contributing factors to inadequate parenting causes parents to mistreat and abuse their children. The problems at home affect the behavior of children outside the home. Some parents are not caring for their children. When children have no parental guidance, they may have difficulty learning what is right or wrong. Children who are unsupervised learn bad habits, such as fighting in school, obtain bad manners and poor hygiene practices. Having pre-kindergarten and parenting classes will help solve the poor parenting issue. “Emotional and cognitive development appear to be associated with children’s ability to control social behavior within in the first two years of life” (Wasserman 3).
When children are mistreated they sustain psychological damage and long term impairments.
The Term Paper on Cultural Differences in Parent-Child Communication
Today’s children face more diversity than their parents were when they were at the same age. The cultural differences in how the parents deal and communicate with their children around the world are a great challenge. Parent’s involvement in their children’s literacy and communication either in school, home or community will be effective through communication strategies and awareness about ...
According to Pezzot parenting is the “physical care that parents provide and is an absolute prerequisite for normal development”. Parenting is the building block for the next generation’s parents. Each parent must make sure that their child eats nutritional food, that they receive adequate rest, are taught and use proper hygiene techniques as well as living in a safe environment. “Physical care includes ensuring children are not exposed to inappropriate medications, drugs and other toxic substances” (Pezzot 31).
The family from Michigan was living in inappropriate conditions. The home had many visitors whom were there to buy drugs and the home its self was falling apart. There are numerous contributors to insufficient parenting and have been placed into two categories based on the level of individual control.
The parent’s history, mental status, and accountability of low income are considered uncontrollable; they are problems that can not be managed by each person. The number one uncontrollable factor is the parent’s history. If the parent is from a chaotic home there is a one in three chance that there home will be chaotic for their children also. Parenting styles are passed down to children. Steven J. Bavolek states “that the experiences children have during there process of growth has a significant impact on the attitudes, skills that they use on their own children” (2).
The second uncontrollable factor is poverty. When the parents have no money it may be difficult to afford basic supplies. In most cases the parents have to work more than one job. The parent is always working there maybe an issue with the lack of supervision. In the home low or no-income families must settle on what expenses are needed and witch can go unpaid. Many times the need for food surpassed the important of cloths or school supplies. Raising children costs money they are not cheap. “The average cost of raising one child is approximately $19,756 per year. This total is the combination of the cost of their necessities, housing $8,237, food $3259, transportation $3152, clothing $1244 health care $1259, and education costing $2606” (Cost).
The Essay on My Understanding of Parents-Children Relationship
During the past twenty years of my life, I was always regarding my parents as extraordinary and authoritative models of my life. I adored them so much as if everything they had done was not only right but also great. As for my parents, they paid much attention to setting a good example for me since I was a little girl. The situation lasts and I have never thought of any possible changes in the ...
Money impacts the well being of each person and when there is little amount it leaves an impact on everyone in those families.
The final uncontrollable factor that influences parenting style is the parent’s mental status. Examples would be Depression, Schizophrenia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. When parents cannot take care of themselves then they cannot care for their children. “Depressed parents show many parenting deficiencies associated with increased antisocial behaviors in children, such as inconsistency, irritability, and lack of supervision” (Wasserman 5).
Human learning is built on two levels, cognition which is knowledge and affection, and affection which is feelings and experiences. When the parent is limited in one or both of these areas it could suppress the development of the children. For example if the parent has a mental handicap they may have difficulty helping their child with schoolwork.
Drug and alcohol misuse, family conflict, and teen pregnancy are the controlled factors; they are choices that the parents make that influence the chaotic home environment. The first controllable factor is teen pregnancy. Teen pregnancy can be controlled because all the mothers and fathers could just say no or can take their own initiative to protect themselves. “Being born to a teenage mother has been found to strongly predict behavior problems in adolescents” (Wasserman 6).
When the parent is young when they become parents their parenting skills will not be as strong as older parents. When a parent is younger, the home environment is less stimulating for the children because they are inexperienced and juvenile. The teen parents have to put aside their own development to focus on their child. This brings their personal development to a standstill. Because of the immature functioning of young parents, their grasp of the skills they need to be parents is vague. Since these teen parents are immature they tend to perceive that raising a child is like playing with a doll or a toy. The important point is that these children are sometimes being raised in an unsafe, non-stimulating environment. Having a teen parent increases the chances that in school the child will suffer. He or she can have low cognitive development and behavior problems.
The second controllable factor contributing to poor parenting skills is the parent’s history of substance abuse. Substance abuse is considered controllable because the parent can stop, they can prevent themselves from becoming addicted. When parents are under the influence of alcohol they tend to be more aggressive. Alcoholism is one of the most common addictions that millions of people suffer from. More physical and sexual abuse cases happen when the parent is under the influence of alcohol.
The Research paper on The Relation Between Abuse Neglect And Delinquency
The Relation between Abuse, Neglect And Delinquency ABSTRACT This research paper is to make known the problems of maltreatment, and the affects the individual is made to deal with. This needs to be taken into account when there is a delinquent act performed. This is not an excuse that should be used for all delinquent acts though. Parents need to realize, they brought this child into the world and ...
Since drugs are not as easily accessed and the demand is still high. When parents are under the influence of drugs they become addicted and the need for more increases with each use. Parents who have or who are substance abusers are more likely to care more for their addiction than for their own children. When the child gets to an older age the parents will not teach them that alcohol and drugs slowly destroy the body because they do not care.
The final controllable factor is family conflict. This conflict could range from spousal abuse, child abuse and high levels of parent-child fighting. It is controllable because the abuser could get help and the abused can get away from the abuser. “Each year, approximately 3.3 million children witness physical and verbal spouse abuse” (Wasserman 5).
“Children who witness domestic violence are more likely to experience significant disruption in their psycho-social functioning” (Pezzot 131).
Most of the time when the mother is beaten one or more child in the family is also beaten. Being a witness of any kind of abuse will increase the chance of the child to develop misguided behaviors. “The co-occurrence of child abuse and witnessing domestic abuse affects children’s adjustment more than twice as much as witnessing domestic violence alone” (Wasserman 5).
When there is violence the children will be affected.
The controlled and uncontrollable contributors to poor parenting in chaotic homes result in parents abusing and neglecting their children. Abuse and neglect are expressed as maltreatment. Maltreatment is defined by the Webster’s Dictionary as “to treat badly, unkindly, or roughly”. From a longitudinal study of high-risk families they concluded that maltreated children experience significantly more problems growing up, (Finzi).
The Research paper on Child Parent Conflict and Academic Performance
Education and family plays a major role in the psychological development of a child. Parent- child relationships are unique, but vary in complexity (Barber, 1994); however, the universal element among all relationships is conflict. Child-parent conflict is defined as a struggle, or trial of strength between a child (defined in my research paper as an individual under the age of 18) and their ...
Many children who come from a history of abuse and/or neglect show high levels of anxiety, function more poorly in numerous areas of development, difficulty dealing with frustration and had poor coping skills. One study found that battered children are less likely to develop strong attachments with other individuals. Say fewer words when talking about their feelings and have poor self-esteem. Maltreated children may display signs of language delays and have lower levels in academic success. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention stated that “maltreated children offended more frequently and began doing so at earlier ages” (Wasserman 5).
Many social scientists agree that “continued maltreatment of children today is the effect of poorly trained adults, who instill discipline and educate within the context of the violence that they received” (Bavolek 1).
The young boy, who shot the six year old girl, was maltreated by neglect. There was no parental supervision of the boy and no one told him that guns were bad and he should not be playing with them. The low supervision by his parents ruined at least two lives, the six year old girl who was shot and the young boy.
One of the issues of maltreatment is abuse. There are many kinds of abuse. They can range from physical abuse, sexual abuse, and emotional or verbal abuse. Physical abuse includes all physical acts that cause psychical injury. Sexual abuse is when the child is participating in a sexual act to provide sexual gratification for the perpetrator or any other sexual exploitive activities. Emotional and/or verbal abuse is acts that cause cognitive and mental disorders. Findings from abuse cases show that “the most severely abused children are likely to come from the most dysfunctional families” (Starr 42).
The children who are physically abused deny and isolate themselves from the world and idealize there parents. They identify their parents as threats. A psychologists named Ounsted stated that the behavior of abused children in an out side setting as “frozen watchfulness”. He wrote “They make no sounds. They keep quite still. Their gaze fixates on the approaching adult, but gives out no facial signals. They have learned not to ask, by word or cry; not to demand, by approach or fight; not to influence, by smile or frown” (Lynch 98).
The Term Paper on Children Parents and Family needs
E1 Explain the needs of families which may require professional support. Families may have a variety of needs, in which they need professional support. Families with a large number of children may not have the required amount of living space, this could mean that children are sharing beds, or parents are not sleeping in a room. Children will lack of sleep are proven to concentrate less and develop ...
Abused children tend to be more aggressive. The National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse showed evidence that on “an average of three children die of abuse and neglect each day” (Bavolek 2).
The psychosocial characterization of physically abused children states that “physically abused children sustain severe psychological damage, and long-term impairments, as demonstrated by their avoidant attachment style and their frequent use of primitive defense mechanisms” (Finzi 449).
Children raised in abusive chaotic homes are more likely to model their parenting styles and continue the abusive cycle.
Neglect is the other form of maltreatment. The definition of neglect is “to ignore; to pay no attention to; to fail to perform” (“neglect”).
Neglect is divided into three categories; physical, emotional, and educational. Physical neglect includes abandonment, inadequate supervision, food clothing or shelter, and a disregard for hazards in the home. Emotional neglect is considered to be inadequate affection, behavior toward the child, and inattention to emotional developmental need. Educational neglect is allowing children to skip school or preventing them from becoming educated. “Physical neglect, as manifested by inadequate nutrition, clothing, and shelter, can have a profoundly negative impact on development” (Pezzot 31).
Neglected children are more withdrawn, helpless, and developmentally delayed. The children’s dominate experience is rejection or being ignored, unwanted and unnecessary. A fundamental aspect of development in infants comes from interactions with their parents. Infants need attention, when they are neglected they are can develop the attachment style known as “anxiously attached”. This means that they are extremely fussy and cry a lot. Once children reach the age of one and there continuing neglect, the babies “lacked enthusiasm and were angry, frustrated, and noncompliant” (Starr 50).
So when infants are neglected the repercussions are intense. Neglected children show a decline in achievements and functioning in school as they develop. Since the parents were not there to help them when they needed, the children were more likely to be less productive with school work. Finzi examined psychological characterizations with neglected children and found “The yearning for proximity and responsiveness may cause neglected children to suppress their impulses and try to please the surrounding, hence may manifest low level of aggressiveness”. Neglected children are distant from there fellow classmates and lack social skills. When a child is emotionally neglected it could lead to “situations of non-organic failure-to-thrive” (Pezzot 83).
The Essay on Child Care The Effect On Family Life
More and more families are putting their children into daycare every day. There are different reasons as to why they have to do this. The main reasons are that both parents have to work, or the child is in a single parent situation, and the parent has to work in order to have an income to buy basic needs. In order to pay the child care bill and the cost of enrolment fees, etc, parents will need to ...
Maltreatment of neglect is considered more of an emotional issue and causes many developmental problems to a growing child. These children will have a harder life because of their neglectful parents.
If parents were better educated then they will learn how to be better parents. There are classes that soon to be parents can take to learn the proper ways to raise their children. These programs are meant to stop the cycles of abuse and neglect and to teach the parents and children the correct ways of developing. From the office of juvenile justices and delinquency prevention they have developed approximately three main programs dealing with family strengthening and parenting. There are also twenty three publications of groups and smaller programs that they have found all around the country that are available for help.
Of the twenty three national programs two stand out. The first one is the Nurturing Parenting Program. This program’s meant to teach new parents to be parents. The program teaches that parenting is learned. It is based on six assumptions. First is that a “family is a system”. That involvement of all members is a must to stop the cycle. Next, “empathy is the single most desirable quality in nurturing parenting”. When empathy is high abuse is low, empathy is the ability to be see the needs of the other members of the family. Then, “parenting exists on a continuum”. Teaches that building strong positive interactions is work and it can not stop. “Learning is both cognitive and affective”. There has to be a balance of both and it must in gage the student. Following is “children who feel good about themselves are more likely to become nurturing parents”. When children have high levels of self-esteem they will become nurturing parents. Finally, “no one truly prefers abusive interactions”. Everyone wants to be loved and to be in a happy environment. Some of the objectives of this program is to build self-esteem for all family members, teach alternatives to hitting and other forms of violence, show that each member of that family has needs and they need to be respected. (Bavolek 6).
The second publication is similar. It is called The Parents Anonymous. This program is the oldest of its kind and it is dedicated to strengthening families. Its purpose is also to teach parents how to be a parent. Others are parents wanting to change their behavior, they were encouraged by others, wanting help, information or support, or were mandated by a court order or child protective services agreement that they would attend. The program benefits both parents and their children. There is always something that a parent doesn’t know that they can learn through this program. At each meeting they discuss child development, communication, parental roles and discipline. Other issues that they talk about are effective strategies to help children develop independence and self control. “One goal is to prevent or end juvenile delinquency and child abuse problems in the family” (Rafael 7).
These programs are just a step to halting the cycle of maltreatment. They are effective. The percentage rates of the parents that complete these programs is colossal. The nurturing parenting program has a success rate of 79 percent, and the children is even higher at 83 percent. In the parents anonymous program participants “improved parenting behavior, an immediate reduction in physical abuse, improved self-esteem, increased social contacts because they gained a positive change in physical and verbal interactions with other adults and children” (Refael 7).
When the boy shot the little girl he did not think about what will happen next. The boy is too young to be tried for murder, so the owner of the gun, who was his uncle, was tried for the crime. This terrible innocent could have been prevented. The mother could have been more nurturing and had more supervision. The uncle could have made his home more appropriate for the children, by removing the presence of guns and drugs. This family is a perfect example of insufficient parenting. The mother and uncle had issues of their own that caused them to be poor caretakers. The uncontrollable factors that were dealt with are the history of both adults how their lives growing up effected who they are now, they are part of the low income society, and if they had any mental handicaps. Parents who model these uncontrollable factors had no control over how these issues occurred.
There are things that they as parents could have controlled to keep the children from developing behavior problems. These controllable factors are that the parents used drugs and alcohol, the mother was young and there were times of family conflict. The mother and uncle could have stopped using and the father could have not fought with the mother. If the caregivers took more care control and make the children’s living environment better the shooting would not have happened. These factors contributed to the parent to become poor parents. When parents express the contribution factors, the parents act out with abuse and/or neglect. From their insufficient parenting it effects children by developing behavior problems. The children who develop bad behaviors their schooling, social life, and how they will be when they become parents are effected. The Palm Beach Post asked people “What’s your best parenting advice?” and Wanda Finike from North Palm Beach stated it best, she said “Remember to give children roots and wings. Roots to support, and wings to free.”
Works Cited
“Bavolek Ph.D, Stephen J. U.S. Department of Justice. The Nurturing Parenting
Programs. North Carolina: GPO, 2000.
Finzi Ph.D, Ricky, et al. “Psychosocial Characterization of Physically Abused Children
from Low Socioeconomic Households in Comparison to Neglected and Non-maltreated Children.” Journal of Child and Family Studies. 11.4 (2002): 441-453.
Kirkbride, Rod. “Cost of Raising a Child.” The Grand Rapids Press. 24 Jan 2005
Infotrac. Ablah Library, Wichita, KS. 1 May 2005.
Lynch, Margret A, and Jacqueline Roberts. Consequence of Child Abuse. Academic
Press, 1982.
“Maltreat.” Webster’s Dictionary. 1997.
“Neglect.” Webster’s Dictionary. 1997.
Pezzot-Pearce, Terry D, and John Pearce. Parenting Assessments in Child Welfare Cases.
Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2004.
Rafeal M.S.W, Teresa., and Lisa Pion-Berlin,Ph.D. U.S. Department of Justice. Parents
Anonymous:Strengthing Families. Maryland: GPO, 1999.
Scannapiecs, Maria, and Kelli Connell-Carrick. Understanding child maltreatment.
Oxford University Press, 2004.
“Slaying Subject, 6, Lived in Drug-Infested Flophouse.” America’s Newspapers 2 Mar.
2000.
Starr, Raymond H., and David Wolfe, eds. The Effect of Child Abuse and Neglect. New
York: The Guilford Press, 1991.
Wasswemn, Gail, et al. U.S. Department of Justice. Delinquency Bulletin Series.
Maryland: GPO,2003.
“We Asked… What’s Your Best Parenting Advice?” The Palm Beach Post. 2 May 2003
Infotrac. Ablah Library, Wichita, KS. 1 May 2005.
