Parents mainly focus on raising their children in a way that they can get success in their lives whether it's western parents or eastern. And most of the time parents think their way of parenting is perfect but sometimes it is perfect and sometimes not.
There are mainly two styles of parenting, Eastern and Western styles. As the names suggest, the Eastern parenting style is implemented mostly in eastern countries like Asian countries while Western parenting style can be seen in the western world like USA, Cannada, Europe, etc.
Parenting is mostly influenced by geometrical location, upbringing, surroundings, and culture. Your parenting style will be mostly like how your father raised you.
Eastern Parenting Style
Eastern Parenting style is more authoritarian and strict. Parents are mostly involved in every decision of their children and they have an influence on it. They teach their children family values. Eastern parents mostly have high academic expectations from their children. Punishment like beating and interference is common and does not consider a big thing in this style.
They are generally more strict as compared to the western style. If they have any expectations from their children, they push them hard to achieve those expectations.
Mostly eastern parents work more as compared to Western parents. Like the parents will always sing lullabies to their babies to make them fall asleep. And babies always sleep with their parents. They dont let their babies eat by themselves and they mostly feed themselves. My son is 2 years old and we dont let him eat by himself and always feed him the meals. The same goes for lullabies.
in western culture, children stay in their homes even they turn 18. And they do not shift anywhere even after getting married and they become a part of a joint family system.
Pros
Eastern parenting style makes a strong bond between the child and parents. They are usually more protective of their children.
Parents sacrifice everything for their children and mostly their children payback by taking care of them in their old age. As they dont send their parents to old age homes and they mostly take care of them by themselves. It is considered unethical and morally wrong if someones dont take care of their aging parents.
Eastern parents mostly give their full time to their children. They even spend extra money on their education because their main dream is to see their children achieve good grades.
Eastern parents mostly make the most decisions in their children's lives and most of the time, they choose the right thing for their children because of their experience and wisdom.
Cons
Children raised under the Eastern parenting style mostly lack decision-making power. The reason is they are raised in an overprotective environment, where all the decisions were made by their parents and they mostly helped them along the way. Thats why they mostly find themselves incapable of overcoming obstacles in life.
Sometimes, they are pushed to their limits by their parents which makes them go through a few psychological problems. Higher expectations and intense pressure from their parents sometimes make them suicidal.
Sometimes, parents try to take charge of their adult children and try to interfere in their every decision which results in tension and sometimes gets escalated to fights that disturb the peace of the family.
I still remember when I used to play cricket or any other sport, my father scolded me and ordered me to study instead of playing. And this is the main problem as most eastern parents mostly emphasize academics and dont let their children play sports or any other healthy activity.
Children often become the exact copy of their parents. They also handle their children the same way their parents handled them. They apply the same pressure and toughness like they faced when they were children. This creates a circle which does not end and the problem remains.
I will write my next article in sha Allah about the Western Parenting style and its pros and cons. I will also conclude about which parenting style is good and beneficial for children.
Everything has some advantages and some disadvantages. We have to balance the two and move on.