Published on 10/9/2021

Try New Ways to Communicate with Your Child
Winnis Chiang

Parents are unique and so are their children. But there are common areas of concerns that parents can do something about. One of such areas is communication.

You probably have heard the saying that “Nobody cares about what you say unless they know you care.”

Parents who love their kids are devastated when preteens and teenagers yelled, “You don’t care!”

If you frequently get that comments from your child, no matter how old they are, pause, take a deep breath, and take some time to reflect on what is going on. You love your child but how come she or he does not get it?

Does it surprise you that many children and teenagers complain about parents nagging them, being angry and critical of them, not listening to them, or not trusting them? If you have the tendency of reasoning with them but getting nowhere, and if you fear that your relationship is going down the drain, restore your hope by checking whether you could communicate better.

The Bible says, "My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry" (James 1:19).

Listening is not easy. Journalist Mignon McLaughlin once said, "We hear only half of what is said to us, understand only half of that, believe only half of that, and remember only half of that."

When our minds are distracted (e.g. "hey, what is there for lunch?") or we are preparing for a comeback (e.g. "no no no, you get it wrong!"), we are at best half listening. Even worse, we interrupt the other person in mid sentence. In frustration, they interrupt us back hoping their points can be understood. And the vicious cycle continues.

Regarding the content of your talk, the four-sides communication model by Friedemann Schulz von Thun reminds us that every message has four sides (e.g. facets and aspects): fact, self-disclosure, relationship, and appeal.

Not surprisingly, most people put different emphasis on different side(s), depending on who they are talking with and how much time we have.

Which sides do you think are most often communicated by parents to their children?

If you say "facts and appeals", you are right! For many valid reasons (e.g. we don't have time, we have to get something else done, etc.), common parent-child communication is usually limited to "facts and appeal" such as:

"It's late. Go to bed now!"
"You have a test tomorrow, stop playing game and start studying."
"You are not getting enough sleep. Don't waste time on the Internet."
"Your grade is getting worse and worse. You are always chatting and doing homework at the same time. Change your study habit."

The list can go on and on. When it comes to the four aspects of communication, most parents admit that they rarely include relationship (e.g. "I love you") and self-disclosure (e.g. "I'm worried about you not getting enough sleep") when they communicate with their children. These two aspects are particularly important for heart-to-heart connection, and can be strengthened by parents.

When not listened to by their parents, children gradually lose their desires to talk. Some of them get angry and yell back in power struggles; others hold everything inside and become more and more depressed, withdrawn and isolated. Either ways, they have given up talking with their parents. The communication channel is broken.

But when parents start to listen to their children's thoughts, feelings, needs and dreams, many parent-child relationships will improve. Would you like to give it a try?

Please visit ParentingABCtoday.com for additional resources.
 

Winnis Chiang
winnis@parentingabc.com

Winnis Chiang, LMFT and founder of ParentingABC.com, is passionate about helping Mandarin- and Cantonese-speaking parents to get along with, enjoy, and positively influence their American born children.