Take this quiz to determine whether you are an authoritarian, progressive or over-indulgent parent. Authoritarian parents insist on children following hard and fast rules based on the ‘because I say so,’ philosophy. Progressive parents balance the need for rules and regulation while encouraging freedom combined with responsibility. Over-indulgent parents give their children too much latitude and tend to fudge discipline issues. Take this quiz to determine which type of parent you are. 1. You have just realised that your child has been watching television for more than three hours daily and want to reduce TV time to an hour per day. a. You declare that the new rule is ‘one hour per day’ with immediate effect. b. You believe it’s too difficult to turn back the clock and decide not to introduce new rules. c. You discuss the health and academic downsides of watching too much television and explain the need to cut down watching hours. 2. Your child insists on eating junk food at a mall after having had more than sufficient fried snacks during the past two days. a. You refuse outright, and drag a crying or sulking child outside. b. You give in and let her have it. c. You offer to purchase healthier alternative snacks or fruits instead. 3. Your child went shopping without your permission though you had forbidden it. a. You scold her, remind her of the dangers of her act and withdraw privileges for a day. b. You ignore the issue. She is back home safely after all. c. You give her a yelling, cut off all outings, visits and hobby classes for the next three weeks. 4. Your child’s teacher complains that she responds rudely to teachers. a. You tell her to give no cause for complaint and leave it at that. b. You sit down for a heart-to-heart talk with your child about what happened and insist on proper behaviour, spelling out the consequences if misbehaviour is repeated. c. You give your child a harsh punishment and insist that the rudeness won’t be tolerated. Answer key: Give yourselves ten marks for each of these answers: 1. c, 2. c, 3. a, 4. b If you’ve got 30-40, you can consider yourself a progressive parent. If not, examine your parenting style and consider making appropriate changes. Progressive parents are assertive in expressing their opinions and rules, yet are democratic in discussing and accepting ideas from children. They are consistent about discipline and try to correct behaviour, rather than impose harsh punishment.
