Communication Gap Between Parents and Young

Generation 11/25/18

Background Study:-
There are mainly three causes why the generation gap between parents and their children is
formed. Firstly, time for communication is insufficient. A majority of parents spend too little
time communicating with and listening to their children, even though they love them very much.
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 he/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. 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. According to 7B KWOK, Tsz Kit Twenty years ago, Hong Kong was already
on its way to prosperity. A survey has revealed that 67% of parents in Hong Kong work overtime
and they are exhausted after work. The majority could not enjoy family life or even too busy to
spend time with families. Therefore, the generation gap between parents and their children
becomes wider and wider. Conventional wisdom regards parent–adolescent communication as an
oxymoron. As is often the case with adolescence, however, conventional wisdom can be
misleading. Al-though it is certainly true that communication during the adolescent years is a
significant challenge for parents and children, this challenge stems primarily from the changing
nature of the relationship, not from an inherent inability of adolescents and parents to engage in
meaningful conversation (Collins, Gleason, &Sesma, 1997). As families navigate the transition
from childhood into adulthood, the frequency and content of their interactions change. Increasing
adolescent autonomy inevitably alters patterns of self-disclosure, commonly shared experiences,
and perceptions of privacy and responsibilities. Yet even in the face of these significant
alterations, familial emotional bonds are noteworthy for their resilience and continuity. To the
extent that there is a generation gap, it is as much a product of incongruent perceptions and
expectations as it is of inadequate or insufficient conversation (Steinberg, 2001). Parents and
adolescents (relationship insiders) do not necessarily share the same view of the relationship and
their ability to communicate, nor are their perspectives typically congruent with those of
observers (relationship outsiders). Parents and adolescents pursue different implicit goals and
timetables regarding the adolescent’s autonomy, which may give rise to communication
difficulties (Collins & Luebker, 1994). But communication problems are not preordained.
Families differ widely in the extent to which autonomy has a corrosive effect on parent–child
interactions. For some it is a difficult passage, but most families are well equipped to navigate
the developmental challenges of adolescence.

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 Communication Gap Between Parents and Young
Generation 11/25/18

Problem statement:-
Parenting style: Includes authoritative and authoritarian parenting styles which are standard in
parenting in general as well as parenting related to career. Extent of communication: The time
spent between parents and teenagers to discuss regarding the teenager’s career. Effectiveness of
communication: To find out the effectiveness of communication taking place between the
parents and teenagers. Career selection: To find out the implications of communication between
teenaged students and parents on career selection. By choice: To find out whether the teenaged
student has selected his/her career by choice. By force: To find out whether the teenaged student
has selected his career by parental force. Reasons: To find out the reasons for career selected by
choice and by force.
The problems includes among parents and young generation are as follows:

 Education of parent
 Number of children
 Gender of the teenaged child
 Style of communication
 Type of parenting

Education of Parent:
Educated person thinks logically about every situation in life and listen their adolescents with
open mind, uneducated parent cannot understand their adolescent efficiently. Uneducated person
- an ignorant person, Ignoramus, know nothing. Thus educated parents are the first key to kick
off this Gap.

Number of Children:
More children in family effect the communication between parents and adolescents because
parents do not have much time to listen their children. Parents do not understand which leads to
communication gap.

Gender of the Teenaged Child:

Mostly have seen that adolescent girls are frank to their mother but not to their fathers whereas
boys adolescents are mostly shy and do not easily communicate with parents so that gap increase
because parents are busy in their life circle.

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 Communication Gap Between Parents and Young
Generation 11/25/18

Style of Communication:
Style of communication is largely effect the communication between parents and adolescents
some parents are liberal and some are aggressive, liberal parents easily understand their children
whereas aggressive ones do not understand their adolescent’s and this create gap between them.
Parents should be very cool and calm listen to their children, so that their children also freely
communicate with their parents and work on their advice.

Research Aim:
1. To understand the level of difficulty experienced by adolescents in communicating with
their parents on different issues.
2. To get perception of adolescents about their communication with their parents.
3. To get parents perceptions on their communication with adolescents.
4. To know how often adolescents converse with their parents about events in life.
5. To identify whether adolescents are comfortable communicating with their mother or
with their father.
6. To understand the level of difficulty experienced by adolescents and parents in
communicating on issues relating to religious beliefs, politics, finance, lifestyles, choices,
career, emotional issues, interpersonal matters.

Limitations:-
This study is limited to Lahore Punjab. Teenagers between the age-group of 15years-21years are
taken into consideration as these are the crucial years where their career path is selected, in this
age parents should be talkative to their adolescents.