Week 4, Post 1

A topic in this week’s chapter that I found to be quite interesting was the section on proximal and distal parenting. As we learned, proximal parenting occurs when parents are “physically close to a baby” and distal parenting “involves keeping some distance” from a baby (Berger 190). I enjoyed reading about the longitudinal study that was conducted between the different nationalities of people, and how their location and culture influences which type of parenting people choose to utilize most. I thought it was interesting how the researchers’ hypothesis – that “proximal parenting would lead to less self-aware but more compliant toddlers, and distal parenting would lead to more self-aware and less obedient toddlers” – turned out to be correct (Berger 190). It caused me to start thinking about the types of parenting that I sometimes encounter. Oftentimes, I see parents almost dismiss their child by telling them to “go play” when they appear to be upset. I used to think that the parents were being insensitive, but now I understand that the parents were practicing distal parenting, whether they were doing it consciously or not. I believe that children in today’s society are becoming more disobedient, and this correlates with the fact that I see parents practicing distal parenting more often than proximal parenting.

Berger, K. S. (2011) The Developing Person Through the Life Span. New York: Worth Publishers.