Let me also add Alpha, this DOES NOT even have to be about being an atheist or being LGBT or any issue like that.
You can mentally abuse a kid by having an "all or nothing" dictatorial parenting attitude. Ruling out of fear is not good. Kids can and often end up internalizing that and end up NOT saying anything to the parent and will get into destructive behaviors and even thoughts of suicide because they feel they have nobody to talk to.
I can tell you that, because while my late mother loved me, growing up she had a very authoritarian view, and it also did not help that I had NO friends on my street growing up, I didn't have my first real friend till high school, AND THAT was back when I did believe. I lived in a prison. My only choices were, to risk being outside and getting bullied and beat up, or stay in my room. I did some very destructive things as a teen as a result of that.
And again, the same mental abuse goes on with kids of Muslim parents, they end up hiding the fact they don't believe anymore, and if they say that in those societies, the backlash in some parts of the world IS DEATH. But even with Americans, even here, living in fear, can cause emotional damage, thoughts of suicide, even outside the issue of religion.
I was lucky that I was able to mature later in life. I was also lucky that the older my mother got, the more she saw me as an individual. BUT not all families are like that.
If you cannot allow your own child to speak freely, AND I DON'T MEAN be verbally abusive. I merely mean be honest with you, then you are ABUSING that child and they will shut you out far more quickly.
Die needs a place to vent, NOBODY is or should suggest die be disruptive or destructive in the house itself. But letting them know they are not alone, and they do have friends that wont judge them, THAT HELPS THEM COPE, that helps them be less stressed and that knowing you are not alone, will get them to adulthood so that they can make their own mature and responsible decisions.
LOVE your child, listen to your child DONT dictate to them.
You can mentally abuse a kid by having an "all or nothing" dictatorial parenting attitude. Ruling out of fear is not good. Kids can and often end up internalizing that and end up NOT saying anything to the parent and will get into destructive behaviors and even thoughts of suicide because they feel they have nobody to talk to.
I can tell you that, because while my late mother loved me, growing up she had a very authoritarian view, and it also did not help that I had NO friends on my street growing up, I didn't have my first real friend till high school, AND THAT was back when I did believe. I lived in a prison. My only choices were, to risk being outside and getting bullied and beat up, or stay in my room. I did some very destructive things as a teen as a result of that.
And again, the same mental abuse goes on with kids of Muslim parents, they end up hiding the fact they don't believe anymore, and if they say that in those societies, the backlash in some parts of the world IS DEATH. But even with Americans, even here, living in fear, can cause emotional damage, thoughts of suicide, even outside the issue of religion.
I was lucky that I was able to mature later in life. I was also lucky that the older my mother got, the more she saw me as an individual. BUT not all families are like that.
If you cannot allow your own child to speak freely, AND I DON'T MEAN be verbally abusive. I merely mean be honest with you, then you are ABUSING that child and they will shut you out far more quickly.
Die needs a place to vent, NOBODY is or should suggest die be disruptive or destructive in the house itself. But letting them know they are not alone, and they do have friends that wont judge them, THAT HELPS THEM COPE, that helps them be less stressed and that knowing you are not alone, will get them to adulthood so that they can make their own mature and responsible decisions.
LOVE your child, listen to your child DONT dictate to them.
