Children’s healthy growth and development depend on parents and other adults giving them quality time. Children who do not have enough time with their parents may develop behavioural issues. Let’s look at some of the negative consequences of not spending enough time with kids. “The best thing you can give your children is time.” – This proverb is frequently cited by parents who, in reality, do not get to spend a lot of time with their kids. With parents balancing both home and work duties and kids being sent off to extracurricular activities directly after school, modern life is busier than we can possibly fathom. A survey found that most families only spend eight hours a week together on average, despite the fact that weekends should include at least two hours for children. Furthermore, it is clear that “family time” can frequently devolve into people talking on the phone, reading, or watching TV in quiet out of tiredness. Such a phenomenon may equate to an absolute absence of parent-child bonding, which can cause a variety of behavioural issues and other insecurities that can harm a child into adulthood.
Deterioration of Family Ties
Lack of communication may cause family qualities like empathy, common interests, love, and flexibility to erode. Many secrets go unspoken when parents and kids start living different lifestyles, harming the family’s connections. Grandparents frequently miss out on opportunities to spend priceless time with their grandkids since parents are frequently too busy to take them on picnics. Such children completely rely on their peers for trust, which is not necessarily a negative thing, but it prevents them from understanding what a family actually entails. This might also encourage trust in outsiders who might prey on a child in such a precarious situation.
Emotional Anxiety
The psychology of a youngster is far more nuanced than first appears. Children have no other means of communicating their feelings about their days when parents are not present. When their mother pushes them aside and complains about having a busy day, they could suffer catastrophic injuries. These kids might no longer feel valued and loved by their parents, and they might also experience instability in their self-esteem, uncertainty, and lack of trust.
Academic Achievement
The social and emotional health of a kid also affects how well they succeed academically, which in turn depends on the parent’s involvement in their education. Indian parents frequently enrol their kids in coaching programmes for earlier grades as well because they may be preoccupied at work themselves. However, studies suggest that kids whose parents supported them in elementary school, assisted them more with their schoolwork, and had reasonable expectations for them frequently succeed in life.
Use of social media insufficient
Virtual media and other types of entertainment are frequently preferred by kids who frequently lack adequate parental attention as a way to escape their loneliness. Such children might spend their entire day on a phone, neither growing physically nor intellectually. Lack of empathy, a poor capacity to converse and listen, and extreme isolation could result from this.
Negative Actions
Even though these effects might not be apparent right away, a kid may experience harm as a result of using aggression, stealing, or bullying as a way to express their feelings of loneliness and melancholy. These problems may start at a different age for boys and girls and they may be direct or indirect. Among the easy activities you may do with your kids on the weekends to spend quality time together are cooking or baking, doing homework together, playing sports, watching a movie, going shopping, or reading a book. All of them are excellent recreational pursuits that guarantee a healthy, strong, and sincere relationship with your kids, allowing them to confide in you whenever they want.
Here are some simple tips for spending quality time with your children:
- Have daily contact with your youngster. Any kind of interaction with your children, whether it is in person before work or school or by leaving a little note in their lunchbox, is significant and valuable.
- Remind your youngster of your love each day. Tell your youngster why you cherish and care about them.
- Establish a nightly ritual, such as choosing and reading a little book.
- Express your appreciation for good behaviour to reinforce it.
- Prepare a dinner and share it. This promotes communication throughout the family and encourages cooperation.
- Set aside time for an activity you and your child can both enjoy. as making things, baking, having family game night, etc.
- Spend time playing with your child, even if it’s just for a short while.
- Laugh along with your kid when you tell jokes. Laughter is a fantastic way to enhance emotional well-being.
- Spend a half-hour disconnecting from electronics and just talking and listening to your youngster.
- Making a genuine connection with your children is crucial and may be an easy goal to incorporate into your daily schedule. Making this choice will have an impact on them long after they become responsible adults.
(Author is Research Scholar (statistics). Email Id: [email protected]
