Listening is a big problem for parents if their children aren’t listening to them at home. Children won’t listen to us when we are trying to talk to them when they are busy on their phones or watching tv. They won’t listen to use when they are concentrating on something that requires their attention. There are ways and solutions to get our children to listen to us more that do not involve shouting or making threats but this post is not about parents and children listening it is about children listening to their friends.
Get Your Children Listening To Their Friends
How are your children managing to keep friends when they are not listening to them? I don’t think they can maintain their friendships as listening is such an important social skill to have and is a huge part of making friendships work. You talk – your friend listens. They talk – you listen. If a child is not listening to the other person they can come across as being arrogant, ignorant and self-obsessed. The friend does not think that what they are saying is interesting or worth listening to or that they are just not interested in their life.
I doubt your child wants to be seen as that. Instead, if you have a child who is not listening, talk to them about the importance of listening to their friends. Encourage them to ask their friends questions to prove they are listening and help them to be conscious of how much they are talking versus how much they are listening as I am sure they are probably doing too much of the former. No-one likes a person who talks endlessly about themselves so practice at home so that they can develop this skill.
How much listening does your child do in a conversation?
For more information on listening skills and other life skills pick up my book, The Parent’s Toolkit.
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