What is communication gap?

5 Reasons Behind Communication Gap Between Parents and Children

Parent-child communication is a complicated process that involves words,

behavior, non-verbal cues, and emotional signals.

The development of a child depends upon a healthy communication between a

parent and a child, however, considering the advent of technology and fast-paced
life, the communication gap is increasing widely. If parents keep on nagging or
scolding children all the time and do not show interest in them, children lose
interest in talking to them. Parents work overtime and come home exhausted and
eventually they get too busy to spend quality time with children. Let us reflect on
the five main causes of communication gap between parents and their children.

Technological Gap

Nowadays, children are more technology-savvy than their parents who mostly do
not have time to understand and cope with the ever-evolving digital world. As a
result, they fail to keep themselves updated with the current trends in the teenage
world.

· Lack of digital knowledge

· Not aware of the sites their children access

Different Attitudes/Perspectives

· Most parents do not encourage new ideas

 · Adopt a straight face and do not reflect their feelings

· shout on their children and resort to physical punishment.

· Constant nagging and scolding them makes them more irritable.

Unnecessary Control

· pressurize them to score excellent grades and ignore their favorite interests
and hobbies.

· Their inflexible thinking suppresses the freedom of children making them

feel trapped.

· Children believe that their parents do not support their choices and become
secretive.

· They hesitate to share any problems with their parents.

Insufficient Communication

Considering the heavy workload at workplace and stress, parents find it difficult to
take out time for their children.

They spend very little time listening to and communicating with children because
of their long working hours.

As a result, children avoid sharing their school life or other regular events with
their parents and feel neglected.

These factors form communication barriers between them.

Unrealistic Expectations
Most of the times, parents have hopes and expectations for their children. While
these expectations inspire children to achieve better, unrealistic ones make them
feel insecure and take a toll on them.

When parents nag and pressurize them, children feel inadequate when they are not
able to meet the targets.

Therefore, it leads to low self-esteem and self-criticism in them.

Although it is not easy to resolve the issues between a parent and a child, however,
it can be easily bridged if parents try to communicate with children on a day-to-day
basis. It is better to analyze any situation and react healthily to avoid any
confrontations and punishment. Organize family activities such as a picnic, party at
home, or some fun trip and spend quality time with your family. Parents should
give them enough space so that children can frankly share their problems with
them and understand their situation from their standpoint.

Communication gap or the lack of communication between parents and their kids
occur when they do not understand each other and fail to communicate easily.
World is very advanced today. There is absolutely no time for effective
communication as everyone is busy. It is now high time that parents learn to
identify the differences they have with their children and break those barriers as
early as possible. Communication gap between parents and kids is quite common
these days and the same is preventable if you can take out some time and follow
certain rules.
Be a Good Listener

· Some children do not open up easily even to their parents.

· This happens when the parent is trying to be rigid or impose their ideas on
their little one.

· Lend a sympathetic ear to your children whenever she wants to talk to you.
Your work can wait.

· Be available to them always.

· Better not to interrupt them when they are in the middle of a conversation.

· Do not interrogate them much.

· When your kids are initiating the talk, do listen to them even if you do not
agree with them. Indulge in open conversation.

Keep Yourself Updated

· Your children are more matured and advanced than you are when it comes to
modern technologies.

· Embrace and understand your children’s world.

· Upgrade yourself from time to time so that you can understand your children
better.

· Social networking is so much prevalent among children these days, which

may lead them in trouble at times.
 · It is your responsibility to guide them and keep them away from any
possible dangers of internet.

Bonding with Your Children

· Create an emotional bond with your children.

· Spend some quality time with them and understand them. Erase all
negativity from your talk.

· Appreciate your children whenever he deserves it.

· Reward them for their good work. By doing this you are building a trust
with your children.

· Hug and kiss your children quite often.

· Showering love through different gestures like hugging, kissing, patting etc;
and emotional bonding are equally important to break all the barriers
between you and your children.

Be Flexible with Your Ideas

· Children do not open up easily when they find you rigid.

· Make your children’s interests your interests irrespective of the generation

gap.

· Time is changing.

· You cannot expect your children to grow up and conform to old ways of
 thinking.

· You have to be flexible enough to accept the ideas of your children and their
way of thinking.

· As your children grow, their behavioural and thinking patterns change.

Adapt yourself as per your children’s needs.

Be Your Children’s Friend

There are no boundaries or limits in friendship. Make your children your friend.
Spend time together, have at least a meal in a day together. How about reading a
book together? Know their limits and do not push them to do things beyond their
capacity. Who can understand your children better than you? Let there be no
barriers between you and your children. Give space for free flow of thoughts and
ideas. Schedule some playtime with them.

Open all the doors and windows of communication with your children. Be willing
and prepared to talk. Keep talking to your children. They need you. Regular
communication with them will bring both you and your children closer. Accept
and adjust with the change. Build a healthy relationship with your children. Trust
your children. Overnight it is not possible to break the barriers. It will take some
time. Be patient enough to let it happen. Your children also need to trust you. Be
sincere and honest in your approach. Communication is an art and you too can
master it with time.

What are the cause of communication gap between parents and children? How to
prevent the communication gap between parents and children? Why it is a must for
parents to talk freely with kids? Discuss here.