Parents must communicate more with their children, say psychologists

The open communication between parents and children since childhood is the simplest and most efficient way of avoiding conflicts between them during preadolescence, psychologists say. This issue was discussed at a national conference of practitioner psychologists held in Chisinau on Thursday, September 25. In psychology, the phenomenon is called “critical age” as it covers a rather long period of time – between 5 and 7 years, compared with other times in a young person’s life that last for not more than 1 year. “The changes that happen at this age are unforeseeable and can surprise the people around,” the head of the Diagnosis and Rehabilitation Center “Armonie” of the General Division of Education, Youth and Sport, Lucia Savca has told Info-Prim Neo. According to the head of the General Division of Education, Youth and Sport Tatiana Nagnibeda-Tverdohleb, the preadolescents experience problems, but can do nothing. They become isolated and solve the problems by their own methods, which are very often dramatic. “The children nowadays do not focus on certain values. They are permanently in search until they start their own families without knowing what principles guided them,” she said. Psychologists recommend the parents to discuss different subjects with their children. “The parents know their children the best. They see when the child is depressed, has problems or is indisposed and can prevent certain crisis or can help them overcome the difficult times,” said the senior psychologist of the Diagnosis and Rehabilitation Center “Armonie” Natalia Perciun, adding that the class teacher and the school psychologists also play an important role. The parents should also show emotional stability. “The contemporary society develops at a rate with which even the adults cannot keep pace,” Natalia Perciun said. The parents that go abroad and leave their children under the supervision of other persons should contact their family as often as possible. If there are several children in the family, the parents should speak to all of them equally, regardless of the age, so that they do not feel ignored. In case of conflicts, the parents should seek help from psychologists from the moment when the first symptoms appear. The parents can find out about other methods of solving preadolescents’ problems in specialized books and on the Internet. The number of suicides among minors and of cases of sexual exploitation of minors has increased. The psychologists say that the developed society and high technology are to blame as the most varied information easily spreads among minors.