Talk With Your Child Be a Better Listener / Video

Sponsor: US Dept of Health and Human Services. Creative Commons license: Public Domain

A Family Circus cartoon shows a little girl looking up at her father and saying, "Daddy, you have to listen with your eyes as well as your ears." The Family Circus character highlights the importance of good listening skills especially when the speaker is your child. Have you ever talked on the telephone while watching TV, folding clothes, or surfing the Internet? Have you ever felt that the person you were talking to was nodding and saying "uh-huh" in appropriate places but not really listening to you? The message conveyed in these examples is that the listener has higher priorities than giving full attention to the speaker. That message can make the speaker feel unimportant, frustrated, and hurt. Good listening is one of the most important skills we as parents can develop. We want to strengthen our relationships with our children, and one of the best ways to do this is through our active, caring listening. Our undivided attention to what our children are saying tells them that they are important to us. It shows that we value them as individuals; we care about them and every part of their lives. Also, we can teach them to be good listeners by modeling good listening skills.

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