Part 3 - Two-way Discussion:

Discussion topics:

Relationships between parents and children:

Q. How much time do children spend with their parents in your country? Do you think that is enough?

Answer: As far as I can see, parents in my country these days are not managing enough time to spend with their children mainly because in most cases, both the parents are busy working outside of their homes. Besides, children also are becoming busier with their studies and other activities, and as a result, it is becoming even more difficult for the parents to spend enough quality time with their children. After all, seeing off the children by their parents just before their bedtime and talking to them for a few minutes at breakfast almost every day should never be considered as “enough”.

Q. How important do you think spending time together is for the relationships between parents and children? Why?

Answer: It is extremely important for the parents to spend their times together with their children, especially during the first five years of their lives, as it will create a very strong bond between the parents and children which pretty much will define their relationship for the rest of their lives. Besides, it will help the young children to learn proper human behaviours such as love, respect and empathy, along with other important social and communication skills/etiquettes, which are absolutely essential to growing up as some good and ideal citizens.

Q. Have relationships between parents and children changed in recent years? Why do you think that is?

Answer: Yes, I would say that the relationship between parents and children in recent years have changed to a great deal primarily because the parents have grown overly cautious about how to raise them and how to help them have a better future and career in a world which has grown more dangerous and difficult. Besides, they are also struggling between whether to become strict or lenient, when raising their children because of receiving conflicting messages from different kinds of media, and as a result, children are just not too sure about how to use their freedom and free time in order to explore and utilize the environment around them.

Children’s free-time activities:

Q. What are the most popular free-time activities with children today?

Answer: Children love enjoying different kinds of activities during their free time which may include visiting a local zoo or park, watching animated movies and cartoons on small and large screens, enjoying swimming and water sports, and playing different kinds of sports. Too many children these days are playing video games and spending time on the internet at homes and these are also considered to be the most popular free-time activities as they don’t really enjoy outdoor activities that much.

Q. Do you think the free-time activities children do today are good for their health? Why is that?

Answer: It all depends on what kinds of free-time activities the children are doing. If they are enjoying outdoor activities like swimming and playing different kinds of sports, and any other activities that allow them to remain in touch with mother nature as well as their friends, then they will certainly prove out to be good both for their mental and physical health. On the other hand, if they are enjoying too much video games in isolation at their homes and eating fast food aplenty at fast-food restaurants, then it is fair to suggest that these activities will do no good for their physical and mental health.

Since, spending time in front of a computer screen and watching videos are so common among children these days, it is quite alarming how these activities could negatively affect them.

Q. How do you think children’s activities will change in the future? Will this be a  positive change?

Answer: I have a feeling that the children’s activities, that are expected to come in the future, will not bring many positive changes as they will be more brain and technology-oriented instead of enough physical and outdoor-oriented. Besides, the future activities are expected to be “more indoor” type where children would be encouraged to stay at homes and enjoy their activities, alone. And, if such is the case, it will have some negative impacts on the social and communication skills of the children in the long run.