What is the meaning of parenthood?
Parenthood comes from the Latin for ‘to give birth’. So, parenthood is a quality that is attached to any being, especially a human being, that has given birth to offspring. More specifically, parenthood means caring for offspring and looking after them.
Good parenthood is the practice of taking good care of one’s offspring and ensuring that they grow up in a safe and happy environment, are well educated and know the difference between right and wrong.
We do not need to be parents only to our biological offspring, however. We can also be parents to step children, adopted children and so on.
Also read: Short Paragraph on Parents
Parenthood is very important in many ways. Below, you will be able to read about 10 key ways in which parenthood is significant not only for family life but also for society as a whole. Whether you are a parent yourself, or whether you are thinking about your relationship with your own parents (of course, both of these criteria may apply), this article is sure to pique your curiosity.
Also read: Parents: Meaning, Roles, Responsibilities and Duties of Parents
The Importance of Parenthood.
1. Education.
Our first education comes from our parents. They teach us basic things like tying shoelaces and counting, and also complement the education that we get at school when we are learning to read and write. Good parenting means not only teaching children facts and skills, but also providing a supportive environment for children’s independent learning.
2. Morality.
Our parents should teach us right from wrong from the very beginning, and what they teach us can stay with us for life. Parenthood is crucial for developing our morality. Parents can provide moral guidance on all aspects of life, and good parents are always willing to answer their kids’ questions about what the right and wrong things to do are in any given situation.
3. Love.
Our parents should provide us with love throughout our lives, and also teach us to love others. In many ways, our parents can become the model for how we give love in our later lives – so, good parenting is very important in this regard as well. It is so important for children to experience a loving relationship from the earliest years of their life, right through to adulthood so that when they become adults they are capable of loving others and receiving love as well.
5. Safety.
Parents ought to ensure that the home is a place of safety for their children. Parenting is important because it shields children from the dangers of the world. Safety and stability are very important for children: having enough to eat, staying warm in the winter, being accompanied by an adult wherever we go and so on are other aspects of staying safe as a child.
6. Citizenship.
Parents can help to form children to be good citizens by teaching them civic virtues such as unselfishness, neatness, truthfulness and willingness to help others. They can also teach children practical things about being a citizen, such as teaching them how to get around the neighborhood and telling them whom to call in the event of an emergency. It might be said that the family home is a microcosm of society, where the values of good citizenship – like trust, kindness, altruism and respect for and tolerance of others – are just as important as in the outside world.
7. Teaching parenthood.
When they grow up, many people become parents in their turn. And very often, they will look back on their own childhood days and draw on their memories of their parents in order to decide how to bring up their own children. Parents provide their children with a model for how to bring up a child that will stay with that child for life – so it is important that they get it right.
8. Respect.
Parents can teach their children to respect the views of others, and to respect their elders as well. Respect for parents can provide a good habit that can then be transferred on to our relationship with our teachers, employers and other people in similar positions of authority. Respect should be earned though, of course, and parents ought to strive to be the best parents that they can be so that their children’s respect is warranted.
9. Support.
Parents provide life long support for their children. It does not matter how old a child is, they should always be able to count on their parents to help them out – whether that is with emotional support after a break up or financial support when they want to put down a deposit on their first house. The parent child relationship is a supportive relationship that lasts a life time. From feeding and clothing their children when they are young to providing them with advice and guidance when they enter university or the job market, parents keep on supporting their children throughout their entire lives.
10. Reciprocity.
We all get old, and when we do, we surely want out children to look after us and to provide us with both the emotional and the material support that we need. If we have been good parents, there is every reason to suppose that our children will be more than happy to care for us into old age. This reciprocal relationship is one of the key reasons why good parenthood is so important.
Also read: 7 Reasons Why Responsible Parenthood is so Important in the Society
Conclusion.
As is clear from the above, parenthood is crucial to human development in so many different ways. That is why it is so important that parents strive to be the very best parents that they can be. For example, parents teach their children about morality and provide them with love and support. This loving and supportive relationship should not come to an end when a child reaches adulthood, either. Parents continue to support their kids well into their 30s and beyond -and this relationship should be reciprocal, with children loving and supporting their parents when they grow old.
How does this list compare to your own experience of parenthood? Is there anything that you would add to this list of 10 key reasons why parenthood is important. That is to say, can you think of any other ways that parenthood is important?
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