Submitted by crinadmin on
Children generally do not get the opportunity to take part in decisions that influence their lives such as decisions to withdraw children from school, send children to work, marry girls off at an early age or sell their children. Most girls and boys do not like physical and psychological punishment. They hate it when they are punished for something they did not do. Children said that they should have been given a proper explanation of what they have done wrong, instead of being unnecessarily beaten. Physical and psychological punishment were found to be the prime reason for children leaving home, quit school and end up in prostitution, jails or in the street. Girls and boys do not like to witness domestic violence, especially when the father beats his wife. They also do not like alcoholic or promiscuous parents. Girls and boys do not like any form of discrimination on the basis of gender, disability, religion, social class, ethnicity and social status of parents. Some children reported being discriminated against by their step-parents. In some cases parents have demonstrated a special preference for one of their children. These are some of the findings from the study focused on parenting styles for children in the age range of 8–16 years, as parenting education is generally not provided for parents of girls and boys in this age range in South Asia. The focus of government programmes on parenting education is on early childhood issues with specific focus on feeding, growth monitoring, language development and hygiene education. The knowledge gained from the current study will facilitate discussions on how to develop an effective parenting education programme to increase parents’ capacities to foster children’s health, education, protection and participation in matters that affect them.