Parent-Child Communication: A Case Study of Teachers from a Romanian Life-Sciences University

Abstract

The aim of this paper was to explore and present a specific point of view of university teacher parents about communication with their children, using focus group interviews. The focus group was conducted with tenured teachers (N = 12) from a Life Science university from western Romania.  The parents’ ages varied from 34 to 48 years old (M age = 39.83 years) and relating to gender, there were 7 females and 5 males. Data collected from the interviews were analyzed using thematic analyses methods. Most of the parents have considered that parent-child communication represents an essential element in child development and in a positive family environment. Time, stress and overuse of technology are considered, by questioned parents, to be the main barriers to positive and efficient communication with their children. School is not perceived as a catalyst in developing a positive parent-child communication.  Even if the parents are tenured university teachers, with knowledge in effective communication, and high expectations from society to be especially good at parent-child communication, they face the same difficulties as any other parents. This aspect could lead to a conclusion that the problems of parent-child communication could be a general one. The implications for families with school-age children are discussed.