Effects of Grandparents Raising Grandchildren

With the rapid development of the society, the generation-

skipping education has great influences on childrens growth. The

phenomenon of grandparents raising grandchildren has become so

commonplace. Many grandparents are assuming the role of the

parent more frequently (Hayslip & Kaminski, 2008) 2. However, the

concept of grandparents raising grandchildren is different from

parents. So, should grandchildren be taken care of grandparents

become headache to parents? Actually, there are also some pros and

cons when grandparents raise grandchildren. Their loves are likely to

parents. Maybe it is just express in different ways. Then, what factors

affect generation-skipping education and its success and failure?

There are three main effects of grandparents raising grandchildren

below.

Firstly, Grandparents will experience different feelings while

raising grandchildren. The first feeling is stress. In order to prevent

children from picking up bad habits, they have to be strict with

themselves. When children do something wrong, grandparents

always criticize them instead of educating. Nonetheless, as this

quote says, Children need models more than they need critics

(Joseph Joubert, Essayist)3. Grandparents should try their best to do

everything without making big mistakes. They know exactly that

their behaviors will influence the children directly. Setting a good

example is the most correct way. Therefore, they have a lot of stress

while doing things. Further, caregiving stress may result in

exacerbation of health problems (Kelley, Whitley, & Campos, 2010;

Williams, 2011)4. Additionally, grandparents may feel guilty and

worry. When the grandchildren make some mistakes or fail on

something, grandparents will feel guilty as a parent. They probably

attribute childrens failure to their improper advice or instructions. Or

even growing up without their own parents is one of the reasons.

After all, parents should be the first teacher of the children.

Grandparents are not going to be the most suitable person. Hence,

they feel more anxiety while raising grandchildren.

Secondly, Grandchildren will be reliable on others, and it is bad

for their growth. As we all know, grandparents are used to spoiling

their grandchildren. They volunteer to do everything for their

grandchildren. For instance, grandparents will follow them around the

house for feeding. Furthermore, they often help them do something

that they are able to do. As time passes, grandchildren will rely too

heavily on their grandparents. After growing up, they will lose their

autonomy. In other words, they can do nothing without helping.

Grandparents are always fond of making sure everything as well, so

that children even cannot make choice by themselves in the future.

Meanwhile, they cannot live independently. Moreover, grandparents

are willing to stay with their grandchildren at any time. If the

situation last for a long time, children will lack of sociability. They

would not like to communicate with other people except their

grandparents. If it is not controlled early; body dissatisfaction and

eating disturbance will carry into adulthood (Storch & Ledley, 2005

p33)5. It will become a big problem when children grow older.

Thirdly, on the contrary, there are also some advantages.

Grandchildren will bring joy to grandparents, and grandparents are

unoccupied and enjoying happiness. Caregiving can provide a

meaningful new role for the grandparent leading to the grandparent

feeling more useful and productive (Emick & Hayslip, 1999) 1. While

getting along with grandchildren, grandparents will have a peaceful

mind as well. This is exactly what is called No mind is happy without

peace. At the same time, grandchildren can become a bridge

between grandparents and their children. It is not always possible for

children to remain in contact with their parents. Inversely,

grandparents keep in touch with their kids at most of the time.

Nowadays, people have less time take care of their parents if they

have their own family. For this reason, if grandparents are living with

grandchildren, parents can attend to both of them. Besides, the

biggest advantage of grandparents raising grandchildren is that

grandparents can have more time to communicate with their

grandchildren. Parents sometimes have a lot of works to do. They

ignore their kids feeling frequently. Yet, grandparents are free all the

time. They can have chat with their grandchildren whenever

necessary. The appropriate communication gives grandparents

insight into their grandchildren. This is another way to help children

grow.
 These three effects contain advantages and disadvantages while

raising grandchildren. In fact, there are no definite answers for

whether grandparents raise grandchildren is good or not. As the

quote says There are a thousand Hamlets in a thousand peoples

eyes. As long as the children get the best education, no matter who

is the main person to take care of. The most important thing is that

children grow up under a happy environment. Children are happiness

when they get more love.

References:

1. Emick, M., & Hayslip, B. (1999). Custodial grandparenting:

Stresses, coping skills, and relationships with grandchildren.

International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 48,

35-62.

2. Hayslip, B. and Kaminski, P. 2008. Parenting the custodial grandchild.,

New York, NY: Springer.

3. Joseph Joubert Quotes. Quotes. Net. STANDS4LLC, 2017.

Web. 19 May 2017.

http://www.quotes.net/quote/1314

4. Kelley, S. J., Whitley, D. M., & Campos, P. E. (2010).

Grandmothers raising grandchildren: Results of an intervention

to improve health outcomes. Journal Of Nursing Scholarship,

42(4), 379-386. doi: 10.1111/j.1547-5069.2010.01371.x

5. Storch, E. A. & Ledley, D. R. (2005). Peer victimization and

psychosocial adjustment in children: Current knowledge and

future directions. Clinical Pediatrics 44(1). 2938.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/000992280504400103