92% of parents don’t know how to effectively communicate with children – survey
Published:Wednesday | November 2, 2022 | 12:06 AMSashana Small/Staff Reporter
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The National Parenting Supporting Commission (NPSC) has expressed grave concern at the “deep level of apathy” among Jamaican parents. The disinterest in the lives of children was flagged in a recent survey conducted by the NPSC. The majority of...
The National Parenting Supporting Commission (NPSC) has expressed grave concern at the “deep level of apathy” among Jamaican parents.
The disinterest in the lives of children was flagged in a recent survey conducted by the NPSC.
The majority of parents who participated in the survey had a nonchalant attitude towards parenting, complained that they were frustrated, and did not know how to show their children love, the report said.
Only 34, or 7.5 per cent, of the 450 parents interviewed for the survey reported that they knew how to effectively communicate with their children.
The survey was conducted September 12-23. No margin of error was stated.
“You can imagine if we have a community of people saying we can’t bother. We’re in a quandary, because parenting is the single most important role that any human being will ever undertake, and it’s something to take seriously. In previous years, we talked about planning for parenthood the way we plan for everything else in our lives,” said NPSC Chief Executive Officer Kaysia Kerr.
The CEO was addressing Tuesday’s launch of the National Parent Month ceremony.
Kerr acknowledged that the 450 parents who were interviewed is not the nationally acceptable sample size, but was deemed to offer enough information for review.
She said it was troubling that parents appeared to be shifting their responsibility on to teachers.
“We want our parents to be partners, but do we want the other end where they are involved in ways that they misconstrue what we are saying that they are handing over their children? That’s not the parental involvement that we want – that’s not what we’re describing,” Kerr said.
“There has to be a relationship between school and home, and each partner in education is to be accountable in his or her role.”
Minister of Education Fayval Williams also emphasised the importance of parents partnering with schools by volunteering and attending school functions.
“We do have an issue with parenting in this country. We know that not all parents are ineffective or bad parents, but there is a component of our society on which we really need to focus to give them the skills,” she said.
Meanwhile, Children’s Advocate Diahann Gordon Harrison told The Gleaner that parents’ lack of interest in their children’s lives directly translated to feelings of deficiency in children and causes mental-health issues.
“I’m seeing parents who are disengaged and preoccupied with what’s happening in their own lives and they don’t recognise that they need to be present for their children.
“There is a direct correlation with some of the mental-health struggles that our children are having … . Some of our children are saying that they’re depressed, they’re feeling neglected that they don’t feel important enough that they have to identify with another unit, whether it be gang or posse at school so that they can get that sense of belonging.”
Harrison encouraged parents to access support from various agencies available to them.
“It’s a journey that’s filled with a lot of hiccups, and if you fall into a pothole, it doesn’t mean that it’s the end of the road. It means that you need to recognise that other people have potholes, albeit at different times, and each one helps one,” the children’s advocate said.