Megan Zajac

Are Your Parents on the Radar?

Professor William Schneider and post-doctoral researcher Anika Schenck-Fontaine have

joined the efforts of researching parenting at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Their

approach is unique in the way that it is specifically about white parents and how harsh parenting

is linked as a result of those parents feeling economic pressure. This is interesting due to the very

niche group that this study targets, one that is quite popular among the students on this campus.

This hits home for a very specific

demographic of Millennials that have recently

outgrown more physical punishments from their

parents and will be making tough decisions when it

comes to raising children of their own. What many

would consider to be old-school parenting is now Previously common forms of punishment

were belting or spanking children.
related to whether or not your parents felt

financially stable (University of Illinois). Many of those old-fashioned ways have been left

behind by many modern and Millennial parents. There certainly seems to be more young

families living comfortably than there were ten to twenty years ago, but this cannot be the only

reason that they do not spank their children anymore.

The interesting part is that these parenting decisions may not be based on actual financial

status, but the parents’ perceptions of their finances in comparison to others. Those who do well,

or think they do well financially, are less likely to demand obedience and get physical with

children who are disobedient. And on the other hand, maybe those harsher moms and dads were

just trying to set you up to end up better off than they did.
 But why white parents? The study that took place in Champaign focused on white families, but

black and white parents have previously been compared. The University of Texas at Austin

conducted a study that specifically took a look at how parents of different races respond to and

parent children based on their performance in school. According to their findings, black parents

are more likely to use acute punishment than they are to reach out for help from school when

dealing with their children’s poor academic performance (University of Texas). White parents on

the other hand are more likely to reach out, but will also use mild forms of punishment at home.

The results from University of Texas study that shows the

difference in white and black parents reactions.

Perhaps there are other reasons our parents choose to or choose not to punish us, but both

studies lead to the idea that corporal punishment often results from falling short of the goals our

parents have. Where do Millennials stand on how they will parent their children now or in the

future? Specifically, I am be curious to see how much of our parents parenting skills we

incorporate in our own families.

Forrest, Sharita. “Study: White Parents Who Feel Left behind by Today's Economy Favor
Harsher Parenting Practices.” News Bureau | ILLINOIS, 18 Feb. 2019,
news.illinois.edu/view/6367/752546.

Robinson, Keith, and Angel L. Harris. Racial and Social Class Differences in How Parents
Respond to Inadequate Achievement: Consequences for Children’s Future Achievement.
National Center for Biotechnology Information, 2013, Racial and Social Class Differences
in How Parents Respond to Inadequate Achievement: Consequences for Children’s Future
Achievement, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3930341/.