Ideal Parenting Essay Example

The ideal parent could differ significantly from every person you ask, but many people could most likely agree on a foundation of what makes the “ideal parent”. This is because there is no right or wrong way to raise a kid, but there are certain aspects that have been proven to be effective. I believe that parents are the most important part not only to their child's life but to every aspect of how the world operates. Everyone who is living right now over the age of 18 was raised by someone. If that someone was a foster parent or biological parent there is someone who made that child who they are today, which in my eyes is a parent. A successful parent raises a successful kid who contributes to a successful job market which shapes how efficient and successful our economy is. I think that being a parent is more than just shaping your kids to be as efficient as possible, but this is something that many people don’t even talk about when thinking about the “ideal parents” so that's why this will be the main focus of mine in this paper. 

The Main Element of Good Parent

To start this paper I will be focusing on the main element that many people associate with a good parent, to be someone who your kids feel open to talk to. Whenever I watch a show such as Beyond Scared Straight I see a similarity between a majority of the kids, their relationships with their parents are much more isolated than they should be. Without this connection the kids who are normally in their teenage years hold their feelings and emotions to themselves.

With years of these emotions building up many people turn to drugs to be the solution. During the teenage years is when having a parent to open up to is the most important time of their lives. With all the hormone imbalances and other changes going on in a teenager's body many things can seem more stressful than they actually are. Being able to talk your emotions with someone has been proven to lower stress levels and improve the quality of an individual's life.

Parents should make this connection with their kids at a young age so they know the rest of their lives that they have someone to open up to. I see a psychologist as nothing but a person getting paid to listen to someone's problems and try to help them without having a personal connection to that person. Parents should serve as their child's psychologist throughout their whole life, I believe that this would have a significant benefit for not just individuals dealing with stress and hard times but the community as a whole. I can’t speak for other people but I know personally being able to talk openly to my parents has been a very important part of my life.

Good Health and Fitness Habits

For my second way on how to be “The Ideal Parent” is raising your child in developing good health and fitness habits. The only way that someone will never have the opportunity to live the life they wish to if they die at a very young age caused by unhealthy habits that they developed from a young age. Diabetes is a disease that is normally developed between the ages of 10-12 years of age, which is a time that parents choose what their kids eat and what type of exercise they are completing. 80 percent of kids who are diagnosed with diabetes are overweight at the time of their diagnosis.

While type 1 diabetes is normally genetic and can’t be prevented by diet and exercise, type 2 diabetes is caused almost always by poor diet and exercise. This is just an example of one disease or medical condition that can be caused by a poor diet that is solely the parent's fault. If a child whose parents don't practice healthy habits is lucky enough to not develop a horrible disease like this at a young age they will most likely continue to eat bad food and not exercise in their lives. Which could cause many things such as obesity, heart disease, and many other health conditions that could cause disability or even death. My parents never allowed gushers or honey buns in the house when my sister and I were at an age that we did not know what these foods could do us. At a young age, I would always argue with my mom on why she should let me eat these foods but she never allowed it, today I am so thankful that my parents didn’t cause me to develop a medical condition that would alter how I live my life today.

Financial Grammar 

For my third point in this essay, I will be addressing the importance of parents teaching their kids “to respect the dollar”. Many people do not agree that this is a parent's job and I disagree with them 10 times out of 10. With the current generation of millennials being one of the most financially unstable generations of all time, I think the importance of parents teaching their kids the value of money is at an all-time high. Currently, 40 percent of Americans hold credit card debt, which is unactable. My Mom held a substantial amount of credit card debt when she was at a young age and had no idea that it was such a problem because her parents never addressed the importance of money with her.

Whenever I talk to her about it she said she had no idea that by using her credit limit every month and paying it back over time put her in debt. This was due to her parents not teaching her this, you never learn about financial wellbeing in the public school setting so how are you supposed to learn from someone other than your parents. Many people try to blame the credit card companies for the very high-interest rates but my parents taught me never to spend money you don’t have and then you don’t have to blame the credit card companies. I don’t believe that parents should teach their kids on advanced finance such as stock options and annuities but they should give their kids the basic knowledge so they don’t dig themselves in such a deep financial hole they can never get out.

Bringing It All Together

The fourth and final way that I will be addressing the ideal parents kind of brings all these ideas together. This is for parents to act how they would like their kids to act. The old saying “monkey see monkey do” is how a kid's brain works. This is because everything they are seeing at a young age is new to them and they are learning. This is very easily represented in fitness when you see parents that are overweight they very regularly have kids that are overweight even at an older age.

This is because from a young age the kids had viewed the parents eating unhealthy food and not exercising, so they just assume that it is a normal way of life. The media is always talking about how celebrities should be better role models because so many kids look up to them. Many kids' main role model is their parents but the media never preaches to parents to be better role models. There isn’t much more to explain here than for parents to act how they want their kids to act. If that’s to sit at home not work and drink beer all day than do that, but if a parent wants better for their kids they must do better for themselves.

Conclusion

The Ideal Parent isn’t something that you can define in a dictionary but certain traits many agree can help a parent be “better”. I believe that being open to talking to, developing good health habits, teaching to respect the dollar, for parents to act how they want their kids to act are 4 very important ways that can help a parent become the Ideal Parent. Many people would put together many different traits that make the ideal parent, but these 4 that I choose in my opinion are the most important. Parenting is the most important thing, and shapes kids to who they will someday become.