PARENTING SKILLS NEEDED BY YOUNG PARENTS IN ENUGU STATE

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

A child is a person who is not yet an adult. Rakesh, (2009) defines a child as a minor, or somebody who is yet to become an adult. 

The African charter on the rights and welfare of a child (2013) defines a child as every human being below the age of 18 years. A child in this study is therefore, a male or female human being between (0-5) years of age and who is provided his physical and emotional needs by his parents. This implies that child upbringing and rearing is the responsibility of the parents in the society.

Child rearing means rearing a child from infancy to adulthood and educating the child in societal morals and values (Berk, 2000). It involves guiding the child through his life to be a productive member of the society. It is caring for a child during the early stage of his life. (Douglas, 2002), stated that what a child becomes has to do with his environment and the nature of training from his parents. Child rearing is act of raising or bringing up a minor. It is an active molding of a child’s character, personality, talents, physical and emotional well being of the child in addition to providing the basic needs to the child. In other words, what a child becomes in future is dependent to a large extent on the nature of the child’s upbringing by the parents.

Parents are the biological mother and father of a child who bear the responsibility of providing for child his physical and emotional needs in the society. Parents are the children’s source of information, raising or bringing up children. It is not just the basic food, shelter, clothing that keep children alive, but also the active molding of character, personality, talents, emotional and physical well-being of the child. When it comes to what makes a person whom he is, the debate of nature versus nurture is a common talking point (Douglas, 2002). The fact remains that much of who a person is, relates to his/her upbringing by their parents that is why child rearing and the factors that influence it, are of the utmost relevance. Parents are friends and counselors of their children. They are the children’s sources of guide, reflectors, feelings, opinions and ideas, and listeners and active communicators. Ononuju, (2004), states that parents are love objects. Ononuju further stated that parents provide security, physical and emotional needs and support for the children both in early and later life. Parents are models to their children and the home is a teaching laboratory, hence the need for well-behaved parents as child trainer. Parents have the responsibilities of transmitting values, moral beliefs, taboos, culture, rules, and tradition of the society to the children. This implies that parenting has to do with taking care of the child as well as providing for his needs.

Parenting is the process of caring and nurturing young children from infancy to adulthood. Kendiora and Leary, (1993) define parenting as anything that a parent does or fails to do that may affect the child, and include caring for physical needs, playing, disciplining, teaching and establishing a pleasant emotional environment. It involves all the day to day care of children till they are responsible enough for their own needs. Lamborn, (2002) explains that parenting is more about parent’s attempts of controlling and directing the behavior of children. Parenting is a complex activity that includes many specific behaviour that work severally and jointly to influence development in children.

It means raising a child from infancy to adulthood and educating that child as well as installing morals and values (Berk, 2000). It involves guiding that child through his life to be a productive member of the society. Parenting is caring for children or a child during the early stages of life. As applied in this study, parenting is the process of caring for children and helping them grow and learn through application of different parenting skills by young.

Young parents are men or women who are still new in the area of childrearing.

They are in the expanding stage of their family cycle. Expanding family here refers to that stage when the family includes not only the husband and the wife but also their children. Young parents include those parents that are below thirty (30) years of age with their children between (0-5years) of age and those parents not young in age but young in the area of child rearing. In other words, they are older parents (30 years and above) but still with their children (0-5 year) of