Why is it so difficult to communicate with children? Electronic Media Might Be To Blame

There comes a point when every parent needs to say “enough is enough” when it comes to their child’s use of electronic media. Now, it turns out that media use at a young age can actually drastically affect a child’s ability to communicate. If you struggle to communicate with children, it may be because technology has damaged their communication skills.

According to a study conducted by Ohio State University, watching television and participating in other activities electronically can negatively affect a child’s ability to communicate with their parents. When children watch television on a consistent basis they are not flexing their communication muscles so to speak. They aren’t communicating with their parents in a crucial stage in their development of communication skills. This can negatively affect communication skills later on in life.

Electronic Media Can Hinder Growth

According to expert child psychologists at KidsHealth, the first couple of years of life are an extremely important period of brain development. When you add television and other electronic media such as computers and video games into the mix, this can hinder a child’s ability to explore, play, and interact with parents and others close to them. When they are in front of the television, it’s hard to communicate with children.

As children age, more and more time in front of the TV screen may subtract from time spent doing other, more beneficial activities such as staying physically active, studying, and socializing with peers and family members.

Tips to Help Your Child Communicate

When a child is glued to the television, they aren’t spending time improving their social skills and vocabularies by actively engaging in conversation with others. If the damage is already done and your child is having problems communicating with others, it’s never too late to try and help them improve their communication skills. Here are a couple of things you can do to help your child better communicate:

1. Encourage lively conversation: Whether you’re at the dinner table or driving your child somewhere, it’s important to talk to your child. The subject matter can be pretty much about anything. Constant conversation makes for better conversationalists in the future.
2. Talk to your child about current events: Even if they think it’s boring to talk about the current world news or pop culture news, they will thank you for it later. Having a broad knowledge of the world will help them in the future.
3. Use videotape to help improve body language: If your child has trouble noticing nonverbal cues like body language, videotape your child having a conversation and go over the footage with them later. This will help them identify specific body language cues and how to identify the body language of the person they are speaking to.

Asheville Academy For Girls can help

If your child has trouble communicating with others, it might be a good idea to get her professional help. Asheville Academy is one of the top residential treatment centers for girls, ages 10-14, struggling with issues like depression, anxiety, ADHD, and more. Taking place in an environment similar to a therapeutic boarding school,  we will strive to help your family work through this difficult period and move your daughter towards a healthier future.