Child-Centered Vs. Couple-Centered Family: Why It's Wrong To Put Kids As The Main Focus In The Family

There is an emphasis on making families child-centered, instead of couple-centered, in modern parenting. Experts support the dynamic that kids should be the main focus and the couple's primary roles become mom and dad, not husband and wife.

Parenting expert, psychologist and author John Rosemond, however, wrote this mindset of putting kids as the main focus in the family is harmful to both the parents and their children, as per The News-Sentinel. He explained the only time children should be the center of attention is when they are infants or toddlers or if they are struggling with a critical illness.

Rosemond professed that parents should put more importance in their roles as husband and wife, as it was thousands of years ago. If they are single parents, nurturing their lives as adults would prove more vital than putting the focus on the kids.

The author said a child-centered parenting makes children demanding and disrespectful. "When you are husband and wife, you are paying attention to first things and your kids, quite naturally, will pay attention to you," he wrote. If the children see their parents share a solid relationship as a couple, then they grow up with a stronger foundation compared to children who are the center of attention in the family.

Rosemond said child-centered parenting also makes children feel entitled and this is why it's wrong. "The most important person in an army is the general. The most important person in a corporation is the CEO," he wrote via Gazette Extra. "The most important person in a classroom is the teacher. And the most important people in a family are the parents," he emphasized.

Do you agree with the author's point? Do you believe the families can raise their kids better if they are couple-centered? Would this concept still work among millennial parents? We'd love to hear your thoughts in comments section below!