5.07 Parenting Skills

Review Questions
What is communication? How does communicating relate to parenting?
Communication is any sharing of meaning between two or more people. Communication is important to positive parenting because it helps parents be a guide to their children and communication helps parents understand their children better.
How can financial issues affect parenting?
Financial issues can limit time spent together family-wise; children may have to spend a lot of time at home alone or unsupervised and parents may come home exhausted and frustrated which may cause negative interactions.
How does negative communication differ from positive communication?
Positive communication is all about making the child the center of your attention, when communicating with their child, the parent listens to them and only them. They listen to their children attentively and respectfully. Negative communication is the opposite. Parents are usually closed off with their children and within their conversations with their children.
How can divorce affect children?
Divorce is very hard on everyone in the family. It is stressful for the parents but also for the children. Aside from a death in the family, divorce is one of the most stressful events for a family. Divorce can impact the way a family communicates with one another and how they relate to one another. Children under the age of five may have more frequent temper tantrums, trouble sleeping, and they may feel more separation anxiety. School aged children may experience sadness, guilt, and anger, they may also become disinterested in school and can develop phobias. Teens are likely to develop insecurities, feel sadness, and other emotions; they are also likely to use and abuse drugs and alcohol, engage in risky behaviors such as criminal activity, skipping school etc.
What are three tips that parents can use to improve communication with their children?
Parents can make their child the focus of their attention, they can get down to their child’s level physically, delay a conversation if they are angry so they do not say anything that will be regretted in the future, listen carefully and respectfully, and help their child find solutions to problems of their own if their child is discussing said problem.
Critical Thinking Questions
Why is it important that parents talk to their children about social issues such as divorce, finances, and unemployment? How can parents talk about difficult topics?
It does the child well to know what the issue is so he or she does not make assumptions about the situation. Parents should be open and honest during a divorce so the child doesn’t feel pressure to take sides. Though these can be difficult subjects to talk to their children about, a parent needs to talk to their children in a way that they can understand, the parent can make sure they do not add any more stress to the situation than there already is by not coming off as intimidating.
When teenagers become parents, what are some of the challenges they face?
Teen parents face many challenges. Teen parents may develop depression, anxiety, and stress. They may be attending school, working to financially support themselves and their child, or they may be trying to continue their social life. Teen parent have many more restrictions than other teens. This may cause a problem fitting in with their peers. They also usually have less time to spend with their child as they are juggling many different struggles such as school, work, or their social life.
What are at least three techniques that parents can use when they are communicating with a child about a mistake or misbehavior?
Parents need to wait before criticizing their child out of anger, they need to understand the entire story before jumping to conclusions, and they need to choose the mistakes that they point out in their child carefully so they don’t seem as if they are always criticizing them.