Parenting has evolved with every generation as every parent tries to provide their child with everything they stayed deprived of. Everything they do is shaped by how they lived, what they learnt, and how to make it better for the coming generation. This is why parenting styles have been changing with time, culture, and technology. The way we speak to children, the expectations we have from them, and even our perceived understanding of learning and how we want them to grow.
Somewhere between "Because I said so" and "Let's talk about it," the way we raise our kids has evolved as per the changing needs and times. And it is no more about setting rules or providing freedom, but in overall, how we have been seeing childhood and how we wish the young minds to build themselves better.
And at Mittsure, we understand that learning begins with curiosity and care. So we ensure that this transformation is seen every day, in classrooms, homes, and through the little choices parents make.
The conventional parenting that many of us have grown up with is based on discipline, authority, and respect for hierarchy.
This came at a time when structure and conformity were considered of the utmost importance, and when the family functioned like a little, efficient system based on obedience and order.
Authority was clear: parents decided, children obeyed.
Discipline-first approach: the rules were fixed, and the consequences were not open for negotiation.
High expectations: Success was measured by grades, manners and/or achievements.
There was little emotional talk: children needed to cope and emotions were a hindrance.
This is a strong family value that was non-negotiable: respect for elders, culture, and tradition.
Traditional parenting, with all its merits, builds resilience, respect, and accountability. It creates a sense of stability in an ever-changing world.
At the same time, this had its drawbacks: while it laid great stress on obedience, sometimes it would fail to recognize individuality, creativity, and emotional understanding-appropriate qualities highly valued by today's world.
The 21st century brought both new challenges and awareness.
Technology blurred the boundaries, education became more holistic, and emotional intelligence cropped up as vital.
Thus, modern parents began to wonder: what if we raised children not just to obey, but to understand?
Empathy and Discussion: Parents encourage open discussion and the expression of feelings.
Child-centered approach: respects the individual child's pace, interest, and personality.
Guidance rather than control: The parents support the children in making choices and learning from choices.
Balanced discipline: There is some limit-setting, but it tends to be explained rather than imposed.
Focus on all-round development: academics, creativity, emotional well-being, and playing are believed to be of importance.
Modern parenting, as it's called, is most often termed "gentle," but really it's just being aware of psychology, aware of learning styles, and aware of emotional safety.
The shift from traditional to modern parenting is not an accident.
This is a result of changing lifestyles, deeper understandings of child psychology, and evolving philosophies about education-many of which those reflected nowadays in the National Education Policy of India, NEP 2020. Here's what has reshaped the parenting landscape.
With unlimited information on child behavior, nutrition, and learning today, parents know how a healthy emotional life influences academic excellence. While in the past, many parenting decisions were left to inherited wisdom, it currently blends both tradition and evidence.
Education has moved from rote learning to conceptual and play-based approaches. This naturally changed parenting-parents now see play as learning and understand that creativity, curiosity, and communication are lifetime skills.
Platforms like Mittsure have helped bridge that understanding by showing parents and educators how playful, experiential learning builds stronger foundations than memorization ever could.
While joint families would normally reinforce traditional norms, nuclear families now require more flexible, adaptive approaches. Parents have to play multiple roles: caregiver, teacher, companion, and guide.
The exposure to digital media has broadened the children's worldview. Parents in today's world understand that kids need digital literacy, not digital restriction, and they learn to balance time spent on screens with meaningful learning time.
Whereas "success" earlier meant a stable job or top grades, today it means emotional balance, critical thinking, and adaptability. Parents now seek to raise confident, compassionate, inquisitive people, not mere achievers.
While it's easy to stencil one style as "better," there is much to be learned from both traditional and modern parenting.
The key to that is balance: to merge the emotional understanding of modern methods with the disciplines of traditional ones.
Both are ways of approaching the same goal: to raise capable, responsible, and kind human beings.
Except that the difference only lies in the method.
Traditional parenting inculcates structure and discipline that help with focus and persistence during the learning process.
And modern parenting is more about confidence, curiosity, creativity and critical thinking. That’s why CBSE came up with the Parenting Calendar, a blueprint for more supportive school-parent relationships.
The learning philosophy of Mittsure draws inspiration from both its holistic development based on playing and exploration.
It respects the order and values that traditional parenting brings, while at the same time embracing the empathy and curiosity that define modern approaches.
A teacher helping their child explore a story through the use of puppets.
A school who rewards "why" questions, not just right answers.
A family celebrating learning as a joyful experience, not as a test.
Children today are growing up in a world that is more connected, fast-moving, and stimulating than ever before.
They need more than memorization skills: adaptability, collaboration, empathy, and creative problem-solving.
That is why parents' roles expanded: it is not enough anymore to supervise homework; parenting today involves co-learning.
When a parent plays with a child using some learning tool or activity-say, word tiles or storytelling cards-they're doing much more than teaching words or logic. They are building communication, bonding, and lifelong love of discovery.
That is just what the approach at Mittsure encourages: parents and educators are to become co-explorers in the learning journey of a child. To support this vision, mittsure has launched the updated version of lumalearn along with jaadui pitara, designed specially for foundational, pre-primary education, play based learning.
Somewhere between the rigidity of the old and the permissiveness of the new, there is a middle path: conscious parenting. It is not a new label but a well-thought-out blend: Firmness as needed, Freedom, while won, and understanding always. Conscious parents set boundaries but explain why they exist. They encourage independence but within emotional safety. They value achievements but never at the cost of curiosity or kindness.
And this balance reflects in education too.
The products, teacher resources, and digital tools at Mittsure nurture this very mindset-one where learning is structured yet never restrictive. Because when parents and teachers align around empathy and exploration, children do not just learn better, they feel safe to learn.
NEP 2020, along with global shifts in pedagogy, has made one thing very clear: learning begins at home. Parents are the first teachers, and how they respond to a child's curiosity, mistakes, or feelings can determine their lifelong relationship with learning. The child learns persistence when the parent praises effort over outcome. When they join in to play, the child learns collaboration. By listening first before correction, the child learns communication.
The truth is, there's no perfect parenting style. Every child is different, every home is unique, and every parent learns as they go. But what remains timeless, traditional, or modern is doing right by the child.
Today, parenting is not about which side you are on, but about making connections between generations, between play and learning, and between love and structure.
At Mittsure, we believe that is where real education starts, in the hands of parents who listen, adapt, and nurture curiosity. Raising a child is not to get them ready to take on tests; it is to prepare them for life. The debate between traditional and modern parenting is not oppositional; it's about evolution. Each one carries the wisdom of its time. That's the balance for which Mittsure stands: the warmth of tradition meeting the openness of the modern world, in each classroom, each toy, and in each child's story.
