Parenting styles quiz

1. Your children have made a big mess in your living room. Do you:
   a) tell them they won't get any dinner until it's clean and tidy?
   b) tell them you'll time them to clean it up and see if they do it in under five minutes?
   c) ask them to clean it up, but when they go off and start watching tv end up doing it yourself?

2. Your child tells your neighbour she's ugly. Do you:
   a) send him to his room?
   b) explain to him that he really hurt her feelings?
   c) laugh and tell your neighbour he's a rat bag?

3. You ask your child to sit down while they drink their juice. They say no! Do you:
   a) tell them off for disobeying you and pour the drink down the sink?
   b) tell them that if they don't sit down they'll spill their drink instead you suggest they sit on a cushion in the sun to drink?
   c) ignore them thinking they'll be less likely to spill drinks as they get older?

4. Your child wanders out your front gate and is found by a neighbour up the street. Do you:
   a) yell at him and tell him never to do that again?
   b) remind everyone to make sure the gate is always shut, tell your child you were worried about them and they must tell you if they want to go for a walk?
   c) wish they weren't such a wanderer?

5. You think that:
   a) too much praise and affection will spoil your child?
   b) you need to talk with your child as much as possible?
   c) children will find things out in their own way and don’t need much guidance?

6. Discipline is:
   a) your child knowing right from wrong
   b) guiding and teaching your child the things they need to know
   d) really challenging for you, you hate your child getting upset.

7. Going out with your children is:
   a) fine if they sit still and behave
   b) a great way to do things together
   c) a nightmare, your children are all over the place.

8. When your children are put to bed:
   a) they are expected to stay there
   b) they sometimes take a while to settle, but you've worked out a routine and it's working pretty well
   c) they never want to stay there, so its easier to let them decide when they're tired.

What type of parent are you?

If you answered mostly As, you most likely use the authoritarian parenting style. Your children aren't always given the chance to learn from their behaviour, they learn what keeps you happy and they can break rules as long as they don't get caught. Children of authoritarian parents can become difficult during the teenage years when they try to break out of the restrictions placed on them by their parents.

If you were mostly Bs you are more likely to use the authoritative or positive parenting style. You believe in giving choices and having simple rules with consequences which you consistently apply. You talk with your children so they understand why those rules apply.. You also listen,and you are open to negotiation. Your children will grow up confident in themselves and knowing their opinions are important. Children raised in this way become happy, independent and responsible adults.

If you answered mainly Cs you lean to the permissive parenting style, where there aren't many rules and the consequences for breaking them are not always followed through on. You get frustrated when your children don't do as they're told but to avoid an upset you're likely to accommodate them. Children who grow up with permissive parents get used to doing what they want and can find it hard getting on with others.

Most parents will use a mixture of all three styles of parenting

Sometimes if a parent is under stress they may become very strict for a while in order to control things around them, or alternatively they may lack the energy to have any control at all and become permissive.