When we try to be a better person, not just for ourselves but for our child as well, we are likely to also look back on our parents' methods.
There are many types of parenting styles that people adopt for their kids. Some perpetuate what they have learned from their parents, even when those techniques may be outdated or worse, harmful. Being a parent is not easy but even as the landscape changes faster than we can keep up, we have to try and do our best. When we try to be a better person, not just for ourselves but for our child as well, we are likely to also look back on our parents' methods. Those methods may no longer be considered helpful.
Prince Harry, 36, has opened up about the parenting style of the royal family, which includes his parents and grandparents. Harry was on the newest episode of Dax Shepard and Monica Padman's podcast, Armchair Expert, when he shared his views on his family's parenting styles.
"I don't think we should be pointing the finger or blaming anybody, but certainly, when it comes to parenting, if I've experienced some form of pain or suffering because of the pain or suffering that perhaps my father or my parents had suffered, I'm going to make sure I break that cycle so that I don't pass it on," he said, according to CBS News.
"It's a lot of genetic pain and suffering that gets passed on anyway, so we as parents should be doing the most we can to try and say 'you know what, that happened to me, I'm going to make sure that doesn't happen to you,'" the 36-year-old added.
He added that after understanding how his father was brought up, the Duke of Sussex wants to ensure that he raises his children differently. He and his wife, Meghan Markle, 39, are parents to a son, Archie, 2, and are expecting a baby girl.
"I never saw it, I never knew about it, and then suddenly I started to piece it together and go, OK, so this is where he went to school, this is what happened, I know this about his life, I also know that is connected to his parents so that means he's treated me the way he was treated, so how can I change that for my own kids?" he said.
He compared growing up under the sharp scrutiny of the British media to The Truman Show and "being in a zoo." In the movie he referred to, the protagonist, played by Jim Carrey, is unaware that he lives in a reality TV show, where he is being recorded every moment of the day.
Since the podcast aired, Harry has faced backlash from the royal family supporters, who want him to relinquish his title now as per The Independent.
Royal scribe Robert Jobson, who wrote Prince Philip’s Century, called the Duke of Sussex "very self-indulged" and "selfish."
"To start saying things within weeks of his grandfather’s funeral seems ungracious," he told Page Six, adding, "I’m sure if he used his brain now and then … [he’d realize] it’s not helpful talking about his personal problems. He’s talking about his father, who’s just lost his own dad, going through his own traumas and mental health issues. Surely he should support Charles now more than ever and I don’t know why he’s done it."
"He is very self-indulged," he continued. "He doesn’t seem to care about anybody’s feelings but himself. His father has just lost his own father, his grandmother has just lost her husband, her confidant of over 70 years, so for me, it’s quite selfish," he added.
The writer added that while he has sympathy for the 36-year-old and understands how important mental health is, he still believes that Harry should be talking about his issues with his family to a therapist and not in public.
"Just because he’s selling a series on mental health with Oprah [Winfrey] doesn’t mean you have to trash your family," he said. "I don’t really see what is gained," he added.
References:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/prince-harry-royal-family-prince-charles-parenting-style/
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/harry-meghan-royal-titles-podcast-b1848238.html
https://pagesix.com/2021/05/14/prince-harry-is-selfish-for-attacking-charles-parenting-skills/
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