THE reality is that we live in a judgmental society where we, especially parents, are often being judged by others. Humans tend to judge other humans on the way they dress, behave, live their lives and even being judgemental on one’s parenting ability.
In fact, experts have concluded that being judgemental comes naturally an it’s a natural instinct. Thus, it has become a norm to judge and to be judged.
In a latest finding by Ipsos Malaysia based on the study on “Parenting: Do You Feel Judged by Other, as a Parent?” revealed that majority or 86% of Malaysian parents feel that they are sometimes being judged. Furthermore, it was found that vast majority (73%) of non-parents admit that they do judge parents.
“As a parent, it’s easy to feel under the microscope, being scrutinized for your children’s’ appearance, behaviour in public, and how you react to that,” Ipsos Malaysia’s Senior Manager of Public Affairs Lars Erik Lie said.
Meanwhile, children are like mirrors, reflecting images of what happens and behaviours around them. They are like a sponge, absorbing everything their parents say or do. That is why a child’s’ “bad” behaviour mostly comes from watching parents when they are angry.
Also, the child-parent relationship has a major influence on most aspects of child development, parenting skills and behaviours have a positive impact on a child’s behaviour, self-esteem and cognitive development.
Having said that, it is normal for people to judge parents on how their child behaves. According to the study – which was conducted among 23,004 adults on Ipsos’ online panel – 52% of non-parents judge parents on how their child behaves while 53% of parents feel they are being judged by how their child behaves.
On strictness, the study found that only a handful (14%) of parents feel that they are judged for being too strict with their children while non-parents more often judge parents that they see as too lenient with their children.
In reality, there are a lot of different ways to raise children, and there’s not one formula that works for every kid. There is no right or wrong way to parent – only your way. – April 1, 2021
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