Role of grandparentsemotional development of children in indian family
Answers
Have you ever wondered about what is the role of grandparents in the family? Did you ever try considering that the role of grandparents in the family is as important as your role? You as parents have your daily duty towards your children, but the role of grandparents is a very consistent, often unacknowledged one.
Nowadays, fewer grandparents get to be real grandparents in the real sense of the word, in the lives of their grandchildren. The reason being because of the various changes in the society like, migration of young couples to farther distance, greater disharmony between parents and grandparents, and higher divorce rates between parents and even grandparents, which are weakening the family as an institution.
Such changes have completely produced opposite results: on one hand some grandchildren are raised by their grandparents with minimal involvement of parents, and on the other hand, some grandchildren have little contact with their grandparents.
America is fast becoming a granny state, where less frail and more involved grandparents are shunning retirement homes and stepping in more to raise their grandchildren, while young adults struggle in the poor economy. They teach their grandchildren the traditional American values of hard work, honesty, and integrity. Had it not been for these grandparents, many children would have been denied a moral and healthy environment, and some would have become wards of the state!
However, some grandparents can also be an unhealthy influence, like when they interfere and meddle with parent-child relationship, which happens when instead of being grandparents; they compete with their children to be virtual parents, while some try to parent a child through proxy. They need to take care about being a part of the family, yet maintaining a respectable distance.
As per research, the grandparent-grandchild relationship can have lasting positive effects, and it’s worth putting in efforts to help your kids know your parents. Research shows that language skills develop better for preschool kids who are in the care of grandparents; though in some cases they don’t go quite far in the academic learning areas when cared for by grandparents. But at the end of the day, wouldn’t you prefer having your kids cuddled and chatted with, and let their language skills develop, rather than developing only the paper-and-pen skills that they would have to deal with for the rest of their lives?
According to research, the better the relationship is between parents and grandparents, the greater the contact and closeness between grandparent and grandchildren. However, it’s up to us parents to convey the message that the role of grandparents in the family is integral to our children’s lives. Even if you don’t have a great relationship with your parents, your kids may still get along well with them.
If there aren’t any potentially harmful situations, it’s best to be positive about your parents to your children. You should be willing to discuss things that are and aren’t working to create positive relationships, as the strength of the grandparent-grandchild relationship mainly depends upon the parents.
Hope this helps you!