North South University

Course: PBH101 (Introduction to Public Health)

Section 1
Semester: Spring 2024

Assignment: Parenting Problems in

Bangladesh
Submitted to,
DR. MD. DELWER HOSSAIN
HAWLADER (DHH)
Associate Professor, DPH

Submitted by,
Muhammad Enamul Hassan
ID – 2311672030
Department - BBA
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Introduction
Parents are the most reliable and closest person to a child. When someone is born,
the first person he or she interacts with is surely his or her parents. The relationship
between parents with their children is incomparable. Parents are their very first
friends. But this friendship starts to get bitter slowly but steadily as children grow
up. At one point, the distance between them becomes so huge that the friendship
turns into a rivalry.

Rather than debating and advocating for one side, there should be a constructive
discussion on why this problem occurs at the first place. An assessment should be
done by analyzing the point of views from both sides. There is surely a definite
solution to this serious issue of which many of us are sufferers.

Parenting in Context of Bangladesh

Parenting has never been an easy task. Raising a child to be a grown person is way
harder than it seems. Being in a 3rd world country like Bangladesh makes it even
more difficult.
Historically, Bangladesh is a region where parents prefer to get feared by their
children rather than building a friendly relationship with them. They consider this
as a process to teach their children how to respect parents. This perception is the
beginning point from where the distance start to appear.
Naturally, children expect their parents to be a little gentle to them. But social
expectations, economic pressures, cultural practices and limited access to resources
don’t usually let that happen on majority of the cases.
Some parents are so busy with their work that they don’t even get enough time to
spend with their children. According to a study, children are more vulnerable on
getting exposed with severe depression, whose parents are absent due to work.
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Issues Both Parents and Children Face

Here in Bangladesh, there is no practice on training parents to get better in
parenting. So, it is obvious that parents don’t even know what they are doing
wrong. Practice of family planning also seems to be absent among a huge number
of families. Which can also be a leading cause for children not getting enough care
and support.

• Parental Bullying: Due to lack of education and social practices, some

parents tend to bully their child on a regular basis. They completely ignore
the fact that these bullying might cause serious harm to their children’s
mental health.
• Lack of Emotional Support: Most parents don’t acknowledge that their
children might need some sort of emotional or psychological support. They
consider this as a portrayal of weak mentality.
• Socio-economic Stress: Parents often go through severe financial
limitations. That causes them not being able to fulfil their children’s wishes.
This problem also forces parents to spend more time at work than home.
Which initiates a general separation between parents with their children.
• Social Expectations: It is extremely common in Bangladeshi parents to
compare their children with others. They keep their children in constant
pressure to achieve certain goals. If they fail, parents treat them poorly.
• Education and Learning Deficiency: There is no proper way through
which parents can learn how to raise children and what not to do. This lack
of guidance enforces them to act in such way that might bring harm to their
children.
• Inter-parental Conflict: When parents fight with each other, children start
to feel extremely insecure. This sense of insecurity causes them to go
through severe mental pressure.

Parents might not cause these issues to their children on purpose. But it surely
builds a certain distance among them.
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Risk Factors
Bad parenting has several severe consequences. Most of them affect the children
directly. These effects hamper their healthy growth and bright future.

• Bad parenting can cause the children to lose spark of life.

• Children might face constant fear and a sense of uncertainty.
• Start blaming themselves for their parents’ misbehaviours.
• Might go through severe depression.
• Lose urge for extracurricular activities.
• Start having self-harming thoughts.
• Start getting aggressive and wild.
• There is a chance of these children to get involved in criminal activities in
the future.
• Develop PTSD, bipolar disorder or eating disorder.
• Etc.

Solutions
Parents should seek for expert suggestions, go to sessions and trainings in order to
learn what to do and what not to do in front of children. They should learn how to
interact with their kids and how to ensure their happiness. There are some points
parents can consider,
• Parents should pay respect to each other when they are in front of kids.
• Parents must be careful with their language while talking.
• Give constant reassurance to the children of everything’s being fine.
• Being extra careful on involving children to any kind of conflicts.
• Must try not to lose temper in front of children.
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Conclusion
Parenting comes with many different challenges. These challenges not only cause
harm to the children but also prevent parents to have a healthy relationship with
their children. Majority of these issues occur due to lack on knowledges and socio-
economic factors. None of the parents do these on purpose. So, there should be
institutions for both parents and children where they can be treated properly when
needed. Ultimately, a collective effort involving government initiatives,
educational institutions, and community organizations is essential to provide
parents with the necessary tools and knowledge.

References
• Jasmine, U. H., & Nduna, M. (2022, March 1). Parenting in Bangladesh: A Review of the
Literature from 2006 to 2018. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 53(1), 76–103.
https://doi.org/10.3138/jcfs-2021-0071
• Zim, Z. H. (2022, January 5). Parenting in Bangladesh: Problems between parents and
children because of generation gap. Medium.
https://medium.com/@zamiarhossainzim/parenting-in-bangladesh-problems-between-
parents-and-children-because-of-generation-gap-1419151tio-577dd97c003b
• Issue-I, T. A. (2019, November 1). Good parenting, bad parenting. The Financial
Express. https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/views/analysis/good-parenting-bad-
parenting-1572618844