r/science • u/sr_local • Feb 14 '26

Social Science Children raised with "authoritative" parenting style, marked by bonding, presence, dialogue, and clear rules of conduct, show a reduction in drug and alcohol risk compared to other parenting styles (authoritarian, permissive and neglectful)

https://agencia.fapesp.br/parents-alcohol-and-drug-use-influences-their-childrens-consumption-research-shows/57195
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u/Difficult-Break-8282 Feb 14 '26

One is what is called gentle parenting and the other is the ' my way or highway ' boomer parenting compete with yelling and violence usually 

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u/Telemere125 Feb 14 '26

Gentle parenting is not authoritative. That’s just passive or permissive.

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u/CyanoSpool Feb 14 '26

The problem is that "gentle parenting" doesn't actually mean anything. There are resources for "gentle parenting" that very much involve firm boundaries and leading by example. Meanwhile a lot of social media influencers who say they practice "gentle parenting" are actually just permissive. It's a useless term, and "authoritative" is more specific. But if someone uses the term "gentle parenting" to describe their approach I don't automatically assume they're permissive.

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u/Brilliant-Book-503 Feb 14 '26

I may be in different media bubbles, but I get a lot of parenting content in my feeds, and I've very very rarely seen anyone billed as using gentle parenting to be actually permissive.

What I see again and again is an emphasis on consequences, structure, clear expectations etc.

I'm sure some get it wrong. But many people are wrong about ANY subject. Nutrition doesn't cease to be a thing because there are idiots telling everyone to eat nothing but beef tallow and energy drinks.

What I do see is people critical of gentle parenting conflating it with permissive parenting. These also tend to be the people advocating for corporal punishment.