Unfortunately, it is no easy matter to be a parent and raise a child in a proper way. Parental negligence is a widespread phenomenon affecting thousands of children all other the world. The root of all evils may be the parents’ natural desire to have free time. They tend to lose their vigilance all the time, letting their children do what they want. Apparently, it can be a good opportunity for a child to learn more about the physical world. Still, if a child is neglected infrequently, it can lead to unpleasant repercussions in future. An adult is expected to be prone to an inferiority complex if they were ignored or mistreated in the past.
The Research Details
This research proved to be amazing in terms of its observational potential. It was more convenient to resort to an unobtrusive observation because, not being a parent, it is hard to foresee what is going to happen and make a checklist accordingly. A natural observation may serve as a great source of material for future evaluation (USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences, 2008). There were three places under consideration where families with children usually gather: an adventure playground, a cafe, and a zoo. Three situations in different locations are to be thoroughly discussed to illustrate the issue of the research.
The Description and Analysis of the Situations
Indeed, the observation at the chosen playground seemed to be fruitful because of children of different ages. As far as babies are concerned some of them played with preschoolers without any instruction from their parents’ side. It was a pity to see older children dominating the smallest ones. There was a case when a ten-year-old slapped a baby girl in the face. She burst into tears immediately, but her parents just reprimanded the boy, not trying to find his parents. It is generally agreed by psychologists that equals should speak to equals in such a situation. The parents of both kids demonstrated negligence by not watching their kids properly and not trying to connect and discuss the problem. No surprise that “recent studies show that parental negligence impacts the narcissistic personality and aggression among young adults” (Kanishka & Pandey, 2018). These two children are likely to have problems with self-esteem and public behavior public in the future. The main problem is that nobody can predict in what direction it will swing.
Another example of parental negligence was observed in the chosen cafe. Three families were summoned to celebrate one of the children’s birthday. There were also twins who obviously felt that the adults did not pay any attention to them. As everybody forgot about their presence, the girls started surfing the Internet upstairs. Occasionally, they blocked the way by sitting on the staircase. As somebody tried to kindly ask them to leave, the girls started swearing. They obviously took advantage of being unnoticed by their parents. On the one hand, “perceived parental negligence has no direct effect on mobile phone dependency, it has indirect effect via isolation” (Lim & You, 2019). These girls are bound to get addicted to the Internet. Besides, they are already confident enough to insult others.
Last but not least, in the zoo, one boy was noticed eating food for animals that one can buy to feed herbivorous mammals. Although his parents strolled beside him, they did not want to stop him. Meanwhile, “negligent parenting may increase the risk of developing adulthood obesity and should be considered as a potential marker for adult obesity” (Mattoo & Shubayr, 2020). This boy is sure to acquire an inferiority complex indirectly because of his probable obesity.
Conclusion
In conclusion, parental negligence may question a child’s future success and self-esteem. The results of the natural observation applied show that parents should better draw more attention to their children in order to illuminate the risk of cultivating a problematic adult. Negligence turned out to affect children indirectly via aggression, obesity, and addictions that one may easily acquire because of the lack of attention and parental advice.
References
Lim, S. A., & You, S. (2019). Effect of parental negligence on mobile phone dependency among vulnerable social groups: Mediating effect of peer attachment. Psychological Reports, 122(6), 2050–2062. Web.
Kanishka, G., & Pandey, N. (2018). Parental negligence on narcissism and aggression among young adults. Journal of Commerce and Trade, 13(1), 111-115. Web.
Mattoo, K. A., & Shubayr, M. (2020). Association between parental negligence in feeding and social activity of obese adults among Jazan population. Nigerian Journal of Clinical Practice, 23(13), 56-67. Web.
USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences. (2008). Chimpanzee research in Tanzania [Video]. YouTube. Web.