The Importance of Parenting Style for the Development of Children's Characteristics

Raising a quality generation is every parent's dream. As Ir. Soekarno said in his Heroes' Day speech on 10 November 1961, “`Give me 1000 elderly people and I will uproot Semeru from its roots; give me 10 youths and I will shake the world”. The word “youths” here represents young people with good personalities, broad knowledge, high fighting spirit, and quality character. The initial capital for forming quality young people is through shaping children's character. According to the KBBI (the Great Indonesian Dictionary), character is the psychological nature, disposition, morals or moral conduct of a person that distinguishes one individual from another. Meanwhile, Mansur Muslich says that character refers to an individual's way of thinking or behaving that distinguishes them from other individuals in adapting to the family environment as well as the state. Forming good character in children can be understood through the branch of education known as character education