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Most of the parents polled in a survey find that giving proper guidance and maintaining a mutual communication are he best way to discipline their children. It has, however, also revealed that at least one in every ten parents do not know which is the best way to do so.
According to this opinion survey, more than 55 per cent of the parents interviewed said they could always control their emotion or anger when they were in conflict with their children. Another one-third said they could manage such cases occasionally.
The survey shows that most of the parents do not agree with the statement "discipline children by punishment". Almost 40 per cent of the respondents disclosed that they would try to spell out their views to their children when there was a conflict. More than a quarter said they would nag their kids while around 12 per cent would talk to their children later.
When asked about the general response of children to the parent-child conflict, it finds that over one-third of the respondents "children always accept their parent's advice when a difference in opinions between the two parties occurred. Around 32 per cent of the respondents said their children would not talk to them after the quarrel.
The telephone poll was conducted by the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups between 16 and 19 June 1997. A total of 523 parents whose children aged from 6 to 18 were successfully interviewed.
The findings indicate that most respondents consider their relationship with their children to be satisfactory. The majority of the parents are particularly concerned about their children's academic performance and the friends they mix with.
It is observed that academic performance or "not doing well at school" are the major causes of conflicts between parents and their children. Other factors include "the relations with family members" and "going out frequently".
Approximately half of the respondents do not see any problems in communicating with their children while around 20 per cent disclose that they do not understand the way their children think and that they are out of date in the eyes of their children.
When asked who is responsible for managing and giving guidance to children in the family, over 45 per cent mention "mother". This compares to 40 per cent who mention "both father and mother" and 12 per cent who mention "father".
Youth Opinion Polls No. 45
