I am writing to you in order to highlight and express my views on the increased communication gap between parents and children due to lack of communication and attention of parents.

“My children were always busy with their mobile phones”, this is the most common voice emerging from every home these days. According to one research, every day around 36% of parents used to argue with their children because of their mobile use which ultimately results in family conflicts. Do parents take interest in finding out the reason behind their child’s phone addictive activity?

Lack of communication and attention of parents direct the child towards loneliness because of which the child gets attracted towards mobile phones. Mobile phones, the internet seem to be a mean of escapism for children from their loneliness. According to one research, parents and children spend less than eight hours of quality time together. Most of all, ‘’family time’’ in our era is defined as the members eating dinner quietly or by being busy with their phones. There is no effort from the parent or from the child to initiate any conversation, as both parties think the opponent won’t understand them.

Many parents show that they will only love their children if the latter get success. Any disobedience results in harsh criticism from their parents. As soon as the child smells this reward system they start feeling uncomfortable communicating with their parents and this is where the gaps begin!

To recreate that strong parent-child relationship, parents need to step up now and should speed up their parental activity. There is a strong need to appreciate and respect your child for who they are. They should avoid following reward-based behaviors. However, this does not mean that children should do whatever they want. Mold your kid with boundaries and directions and let them be groomed with confidence and motivate them to be proud of who they are despite any weaknesses or faults.

ABDUL REHMAN,

Karachi.