What is Gentle Parenting, and are Parents Doing it Correctly? (A Younger Perspective)

The Youth will Lead Us

What is gentle parenting?

Gentle parenting is a style of parenting that has been gaining popularity over the past few years for the fact that it focuses on learning and being responsive instead of focusing on punishment, like what most current adults grew up with. Most parents see this as a way to be better than their parents, to teach their kids how to handle their emotions without leaving them with an emotional scar.

Why are parents attempting to use gentle parenting?

Many adults grew up with a parenting style called “assertive parenting”, where the parent controls their child based on fear, intimidation, and punishment. Often this parenting style leaves lasting scars, whether emotional, physical, or both it leaves a lasting impact. It can cause anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and many more mental disorders (1), so it’s no surprise parents don’t want their kids to grow up with that.

So gentle parenting sounds great, right? For most people, only in theory. Many parents cl…