Discuss Problems with Parents

The authoritarian "do as I say without question" notion doesn't offer much for children to learn in the way of problem-solving because they are taught to "act" and to "respond" as opposed to being taught to "think" and to "understand" in regards to how one must conduct his life. As a result, when time comes for many of these youths to deal with problems, usually during teenage years, the children are as good as forced to seek outside-the-home help due to their parents' adamant refusal to discuss concrete issues with them on "real" terms.

An example of this is the child who says he joined a gang because no one at home listened to or cared about "him"only about what he did. The fact that a gang-joining child must submit to a gang initiation process, even if the initiation process involves breaking the law, is not always enough to deter a child from subjecting himself to the initiation if that child has been living under a dictatorship he cannot understand or relate to. The fact that gang members assure one another that they "care" about one another, and they "accept" each other as they are can be all the convincing needed to sway a child.

Children's Ability to Think for Themselves Becomes Stifled

Because children raised by authoritarian parents are forbidden to question authority under any circumstances, they grow up with a stifled ability to think for themselves, and have low social skills. In fact, one could argue that children taught to obey authority without question are placed at risk of becoming abused by their superiors; and to make matters worse, these children, may be without an adult to talk to since they fear their parents and most children will not share major problems with adults outside their home.

Abusive Parent-Child Relationships

Another major consequence of authoritarian parenting presents itself when misplaced punishment, which authoritarian parents tend to confuse with discipline, leads to physical abuse, emotional abuse, or both. The fact that authoritarian parents tend not to discern differences between discipline and punishment coupled with the fact that they tend to utilize spanking as a means of discipline/punishment on a regular basis, leaves them without out "real" means of discipline/punishment when major problems occur. This lack of "back up" proves to be a catalyst to physical and emotional abuse. Children of authoritarian parents are more likely to be subjected to punishment for even the smallest of offenses than to be disciplined in a means that will allow them to learn and grow from their mistakes.

Children Believe their Success is More Important to Parents than they are.

Other consequences of authoritarian parenting stems from the verity that these parents often hold their children to extremely high achievement levels; in fact so high that their children often come to believe the parents are only concerned with the children's successes or lack thereof as opposed to having concern for the children.

Children May Repeat Undesirable Lifestyle with their Own Kids

The most alarming consequence of Authoritarian parenting may lie in the fact that children learn what they live and grow to raise their children using the same tactics that were imposed on them. For many, breaking away from an undesirable lifestyle can be difficult, to say the least.

Children of authoritarian parents are often sad, frustrated, anxious, rebellious, withdrawn, and have self-esteem issues.

Learn more about this author, R. Renee Bembry.
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