Tips to Fill Communication Gap Between Parent and Child

A healthy communication between parents and child is necessary for harmonious family life. People from the last generation don’t even talk to their parents, especially their father. They see talking a lot to the father as a way of disrespecting them, so they choose not to have a conversation with their parent. Some Indian parents still observe that their child always hesitates to talk to them even today. Child keep their thoughts in their mind and resist talking to their parents about anything. Child adopts this kind of behaviour because of their parent’s parenting style. This article covers what are the signs and reasons for the communication gap and what can be done to bridge this communication gap between a parent and a child.

Signs That There is a Communication Gap

There are some signs which show that there is some communication gap between a parent and a child:

• Secretive: If a child stop sharing their feeling starts behaving secretively hides his/her thoughts and confides in their feeling. This is mainly because of their parent, parenting style.
• Frequent misunderstanding: Less communication, creates more frequent misunderstandings and misinterpretations between parent and child and this often gets to the peak of its intensity.
• Academic and behavioural problem: If a child’s behaviour is changing and it is affecting his/ her academic life, he/ she might have a distorted communication with parents.
• One-way talk: It is said that one should have two-way communication to communicate successfully. But it is often seen that parent only talks and they want their child to listen to them only, which further creates a communication gap between parent and a child.
• Limited Quality Time: If a parent does not spend enough time together with their kid, it will create a communication gap between them.
• Not open up on certain topic: Parents often hesitate to talk about sex, drugs etc. and always resist giving proper information on their level, which lead their children to become secretive in behaviour.

Ways to Bridge up The Communication Gap as a Parent

• Parenting Style: With the advancement in the mentality of the new generation parents should change their parenting style. They should adopt the parenting style in which they talk to their child more often times and feel comfortable in sharing the different kinds of things.

• Be empathetic: With the growth of a child, they go through a lot of changes mentally and physically. So, parents should be enough empathetic to support them with their life decisions and tell them how to deal with these kinds of situations.
• Be an active listener: Instead of just talking parents should listen to their child carefully which helps them to open up in front on their parents. This will also be helpful for parents to understand their child in a good way.

• Parents should treat their child with the same respect they expect to receive. They should not lecture them, yell at them, and always use some soft tricks to make them understand things easily.
• Open and honest: Parents should make their repo in a way that children do not hesitate to share their thoughts and feelings. Make sure you gain that trust that your child will not hesitate the simplest thing.
• Create a safe zone: Parents should create a safe zone for their kids so that they can easily share anything without thinking of punishment or judgment.

Tips for a child to fill in the communication gap

• Initiate Conversation: As a child, it would be better to initiate conversation with your parents. Ask them about their school life, experiences, and hobbies, and also tell them yours.
• Choose the right time: As a parent or the bread earner, it could be less than possible for make time other than work. So, choose the time wisely so that they can respond to you positively.
• Be Patient: Make sure to be patient cause it takes time to change anything. If your parents are not that open up to talk, it may take a while for them to understand your effort so be patient.
• Ask for their experience: If you got stuck in somewhere or have any kind of confusion in your life. You better ask it from your parents. They will always guide you to the right path. Their experience will help you to do better in your life and hence bridge the gap in communication.
• Avoid being defensive: If your parent lectures you about anything, try not to be defensive, even if you find yourself a per cent wrong.

Communication gap often create a long gap between the generations and gives a bitterness in the family relations. Try to be communicative in your family with your parents. Both parents and child should initiate at an equal level to bridge the gap of communication.