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3 Reasons You Need To Be An Assertive Parent 

Assertiveness is about speaking up in a respectful and honest way. Being passive, especially as a parent, could leave you at risk of being taken advantage of or not being taken seriously by your children. If we don’t parent with assertiveness, our children may not be receiving the message, lesson or value you are trying to instil in them. Let’s look at what’s possible when you parent with assertiveness. 

1. Your Children Will Learn To Take Care Of Themselves 

One key area in parenting is raising your child to be helpful, considerate and independent individuals. When your child understands that they have a role to play at home with chores, such as cooking and cleaning, they will start to become more independent. Learning independence early on in life will help your child adjust when they leave school and enter a more autonomous lifestyle. While this lesson won’t be learned overnight by your kids, and will often be met with resistance, firmly reiterating the importance of helping at home is essential for the benefit of your child’s development into an adult. 

2. They Will Become Better Communicators 

These days, parents need to be aware of teaching their children about the harms of spending too much time gaming, watching TV, and on the internet, often depletes their sense of communication with people. Excessive gaming is a sign that as a parent you are not assertive enough when it comes to explaining why it is important to reduce time on technology. Many children who spend excessive time looking at screens struggle to communicate at social gatherings because they are limited to social interaction on a screen. 

3. You Will See An Improvement In Academics 

It’s no secret that technology is a cause for a lacking attention span. When our children learn not to spend so much time on screens, they find it easier to study without distraction. This doesn’t mean they should stay away from their screens altogether, it just means that during a school week it’s best to keep screen time to a minimum. Limiting screen usage improves focus, and an improved focus will lead to higher academic results. 

Affectionate assertiveness is about parenting in a loving way with a clear mission in mind for the kind of children you want to raise. Having a mission as a couple will keep you accountable when it comes to disciplining your child and We know it can be hard to know where you can improve in your parenting style, so click here to access a self-assessment survey that can help you and your spouse identify ways of becoming more assertive parents. 

This article was inspired by episode #49 of The Parent-Teacher Project entitled Are You A Soft Serve Parent? with Chris Tanna, and Nathan Frazer.

Listen to the entire episode below.

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