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There are some parenting habits that immediately make people wonder what is happening behind closed doors. They are not always dramatic or obviously terrible either. Sometimes it is the parent who desperately wants to be their child’s best friend, the one who never takes responsibility, or the one who treats every problem as someone else’s fault. Other times, it is a pattern that seems harmless until you hear it described by someone who actually grew up around it. Reddit users recently shared the behaviors that make them think someone is a bad parent, and some of the answers are painfully familiar. These fifteen traits stood out for all the wrong reason
A Conscious Network
Being Jealous of Your Own Child
Reddit users pointed to parents who compete with their children or feel threatened by their success instead of being proud of them, especially when a child’s achievements seem to make the parent uncomfortable.
American Psychological Association
Making Your Child Manage Your Emotions
Using a child as a therapist, expecting them to calm you down, or making them responsible for keeping you happy can completely reverse the parent child relationship.
Daily Sabah
Making Your Kids Afraid of You
A child constantly watching a parent’s mood, walking on eggshells, or being visibly frightened when that parent approaches was repeatedly described as a major warning sign.
The Guardian
Filming Everything for Social Media
Some commenters described parents who turn their children’s private or vulnerable moments into content, even continuing to film when a child is clearly upset or wants to be left alone.
The art of Healing
Being on Your Phone While Your Kid Is Talking
Ignoring a child who is trying to show you something or tell you about their day because you are constantly looking at your phone was another behavior Reddit users immediately recognized.
Parent Cue
Making Your Child Afraid to Tell You the Truth
When children know that telling their parents what really happened will automatically lead to an extreme reaction, they can learn that hiding problems is safer than asking for help.
ABC News
Publicly Humiliating Your Child
Correcting a child is one thing, but repeatedly embarrassing them in front of other people was described as a particularly damaging way to handle discipline.
Counseling Group
Constantly Criticizing Their Appearance
Reddit users shared examples of parents obsessing over their children’s hair, clothes, weight, walking style, or other physical features until the criticism became part of how those children viewed themselves.
India Parenting
Never Spending Time With Your Kids
Being physically present is not necessarily the same as actually being involved, and commenters highlighted parents who consistently avoid spending meaningful time with their children before later wondering why those children never visit them.
Medium
Treating Your Children Like Property
One commenter described a major red flag as believing children are possessions rather than human beings who are temporarily under a parent’s care and eventually need to become independent adults.
Using Violence as the Main Discipline
Several responses focused on parents whose primary response to misbehavior is physical punishment, with commenters describing belts and other objects being used as weapons rather than teaching tools.
Letting Screens Do All the Parenting
Giving a child a tablet or phone all day simply because the parent does not want to deal with them was specifically mentioned as a sign that someone has effectively outsourced parenting to a screen.
Parents
Leaving Young Children Alone to Go Party
Commenters identified leaving young children unsupervised while going out to socialize as an especially obvious example of putting personal entertainment ahead of basic parental responsibility.
Your Teen Magazine
Giving Young Kids Alcohol or Hosting Parties With It
Allowing children to drink or knowingly providing alcohol at parties involving teenagers was another behavior Reddit users singled out as a serious parenting failure.
RN Journal
Refusing Important Medical Care
One school counselor described refusing necessary medical treatment and deliberately isolating children from professionals as major warning signs, along with parents who repeatedly ignore calls from schools about their children.
The post 15 People Share Traits That Say, ‘I’m a Bad Parent’ appeared first on Den of Geek.
