Growing up, home is supposed to be our safe place where parents protect their children emotionally, intellectually and physically. Oftentimes we may hear others around us bringing up a bad trait they have or why they are the way they are. Then, they connect those things to something their parents have done and blame bad behavior on that for the rest of their lives. Awareness of this issue is not expressed enough, especially with how much it can impact someone’s life.
According to American Society for the Positive Care of children.org, the effects of bad parenting are profound and manyfold. Research shows that the role of parents in shaping the future of their children is undeniably crucial. Emotional scars inflicted during childhood can long linger into adulthood, affecting relationships, decision-making, and overall mental health. Those raised in a home marked by neglect, excessive unpredictability, or abuse may grapple with issues such as low self-confidence, anxiety, depression, and trust issues. Some things that cause those emotional scars are not showing up to their activities, being emotionally unavailable, failing to set and enforce boundaries, failing to provide basic needs, not listening to their children and so much more.
There isn’t enough awareness of the effects of bad parenting on teens’ mental health because people really underestimate the long-term impact of parenting styles, and there is often a lack of open discussions about mental health within our society. Parents really need to be more aware of their actions and what they are saying to their children and make their homes more like a home instead of their kids feeling anxious to even walk back in the door at the end of the day.
Sadly, due to these actions at the hands of parents, we have to have a foster care system to get children out of extremely bad situations. In my opinion, it never should’ve gotten to the point where we even need one. It’s not just physical abuse that gets it to this point but emotional abuse as well. From experience, I know how it can feel to get put into that system where you can get separated from your siblings and sometimes even with a stranger if no part of your family is available. Luckily, I ended up with a good family member, but children in foster care can sometimes experience a worse situation than the one before or it could be the best thing ever for them. My point is, you never know what you’ll get with it. And if two people decide to have a child they need to be ready for that and really know they can handle it.
Every child is important and as someone who has gone through similar experiences, I know how important it is to feel like you are being heard or listened to by your parents. Every person’s concerns deserve to be heard. However, many are scared to share their feelings because of intimidation and threats. They fear that if they tell anyone, they will regret it or that it could ruin their family. Those things may seem so small to those who haven’t actually experienced it but they really aren’t. You matter as a person no matter what your parents do or say that may hurt you; just know that the world is so much more than that and you’re so much more than what people say to you and compare you to.
Something needs to change within our society, especially in terms of breaking a cycle of bad parenting. The problem doesn’t lie within these teens, it’s their parents who are making them into people who ultimately have issues. Although, it’s important to rise above those things our parents do to become a better person in the end.
