Parenting styles and parenting interventions are very important and often debated. There seems to be a new opinion each year on the best way to help raise responsible and healthy children. It is important then to use scientific data rather than anecdotal evidence to make our decisions and to suggest interventions to others.

Using the module readings, Argosy University online library resources, and the Internet, research the various parenting styles, such as authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, and uninvolved, and various parenting interventions, such as time out/in, loss of privilege, and ignoring. Then, do the following:

• Choose one of the following situations:

• • Your three-year-old son refuses to eat his dinner and cries at the table for you to feed him.
  • Your six- and seven-year-old stepdaughters have been arguing the last two days and have been unusually quarrelsome with you.
  • Your ten-year-old adopted son had put his head down on the table and refused to do his homework. When you told him he has to complete it, he starts throwing anything he can get his hands on. (You have other children in the room.)
  • Your twelve-year-old daughter has been forgetting things at school and home, and now has begun to forget to do her chores as well.

• Considering that all behavior has meaning in a larger context, explain what the message might be behind this behavior before implementing a strategy.
• Select the parenting style that may best suit the situation and apply one or more parenting interventions you discovered in your research to your chosen situation.
• Explain why this is the best style and technique and what type of result (in the child’s behavior) might occur. Is this the parenting style you would use? Why or why not?

Write your initial response in a minimum of 300–400 words. Apply APA standards to citation of sources, including use of in-text citations and full references. Incorporate information from at least two academic sources to support your statements or ideas. Academic sources could include your textbook, required readings for this week, or academic journal articles found in the Argosy University online library.

Consider commenting on the following:

• Do you agree with your peers’ analysis of the message behind the behavior and the choice of parenting strategy? Why or why not?
• Suggest alternative parenting styles or techniques if the situation selected by your peers is different from your choice. Give reasons for your recommendations.
• Select a situation that is different from your earlier choice and recommend a parenting strategy with appropriate rationale.

Grading Criteria and Rubric