Problems in American Parenting

America’s problems in parenting consist of many different errors that could be remedied with simple consideration of both the individual you are raising and the way you were raised. Sometimes the instinctual things about life are the best to follow; which means that hitting a child, ignoring a child, and placing every burden on our societies young people are not ways to raise the future of America. Children are being raised one of two ways; either in a place with no rules or guidelines and a low standard of what it means to succeed, or by those certain overbearing parents who give their kids too many rules to memorize.
There are complete extremes in our generation, especially in its ideas of parenting. The problem with American parenting today is that our society is slowly losing control of the youthful generation, and forgetting the proper way to raise children. There are three different forms of analysis that exemplify the way Americans raise children.

An Ethos Analysis:
The best way for respect in a relationship, especially between a parent and a child, is to set a list of boundaries that are not all strict, but all completely understood by both parties. From my direct relationships with parents and their children, as well as my relationship with my parents, I have discovered the two extremes in parenting. The first is a set of parents with no regard for their children and who neglect to care for them. My friend Phillip grew up with a complete lack of rules, from not needing to pull grades to being disrespectful to authoritative figures. This is large percentage of American parents’ problem in raising their children. With no expectations from his parents, he didn’t graduate high school on time and took over a year off before realizing that he needed to go to college. Americans need to learn how to use moderation in every part of their lives. On the opposite side of the parenting spectrum, there are parents who are overbearing and controlling so much that they drive their children into rebellion. A girl named Aimee and I grew up together, in the same environment, with completely different upbringings. Her parents have restricted her in so many ways that it is more simple to explain what she is allowed to do than to list off the things that she is forbidden to do. Her senior year of high school, Aimee’s parents put a GPS tracker in her cell phone, followed her from school to her friends’ houses, and other things that exemplified overbearing parenting. These two examples of young adults are being raised in completely oppositional and unfit forms of American parenting. Phillip’s mother showed such a complete indifference to him that nothing seemed to matter in his life; this kind of neglect in American parenting is not acceptable. Phillip got into drugs, alcohol, and a complete disregard for his education. Aimee, though her parents raised her in the exact opposite way, experienced a lot of the same forms of rebellion. For example, when she found out that her parents were tracking her, she bought a “go phone” and left her old one in the library. These two young adults are both subjects of American parenting at its’ worst and the solution to bad upbringings throughout our generation is to treat your children with respect and give them proper initiative to do well in life.
The children and young adults I encounter (usually) have some large problem with either one or both of their parents. The best way to raise children is to show kindness, treat them with equal respect, and allow them certain amounts of freedom. Although it will seem completely biased, I believe my parents did the best job at conveying exactly what was expected of me, as well as maintaining my high level of freedom. I have always had a lack of leeway in school, but I am allowed every other privilege I could hope for, and I always have an open line of communication with my parents about every aspect of my life.

A Pathos Analysis:
Parents in America today seem to have completely lost control of themselves and their children. Mankind continues to get worse at conveying their emotions as time goes on. Not only do parents in this generation lose sight of how to raise their children, but they have also been forgetting the proper ways of discipline. Today, if a parent doesn’t know how to raise their children, or they are stressed, or confused, they seem to be turning to abuse. In a ten-year study, it was recorded that the number of child deaths per day due to abuse and neglect had almost doubled since the 1900’s. There is no clear explanation for this, because the demographics of child abusers span from every socioeconomic level in education, wealth, religion, ethnicity, and culture. The biggest problem with American parenting is the selfishness that causes child abuse. The only way Americans should be allowed to raise children is if they are ready to be fully devoted to loving someone else unconditionally. Child abuse and neglect both show insane immaturity in American parents because damage to the children of today span their entire lives. Over 60% of people in drug rehabilitation centers reported that they were abused or neglected in their youth, and 80% of the group of 21 year olds interviewed in the same study fit the criteria for at least one psychological disorder. Abusing a child cannot only ruin your life, but will almost always ruin the life of that child. The future of America is based partially on the results of our generation’s ability to raise children; we all need to start doing a much better job.

A Logos Analysis:
The problems in America are numerous and some of the time unsolvable, but the problems with American’s parenting skills could be easily solved with simple logic. According to “Custodial Mothers and Fathers and Their Child Support: 2005” there are around 13 million single parents in America. The abuse rates in this country continue to go up alongside the divorce rates, so we continue to get worse at marriage and raising children as time progresses. Of the men and women who are raising their children alone 38% live in poverty. Poverty in a family can never be helpful in the attempt to raise America’s youth because of a simple fact; without food humans become a bit irate. Only 31% of all single parents receive public assistance, and they continue their life with malnourishment. Logically, raising a child on your own is not the best way to go about it and before one can jump into childbirth; the consideration of their ability to raise a child should be accounted for. The solution to these problems in American parenting is to simply figure out exactly how children should be treated as individuals, and to respect your children like you want them to respect you.