The topic to be discussed is about the value of effective family communication in a society. This topic was chosen by this student because this student believes that effective communication is what keeps a family closely knitted. Communication is essential for a family in order to nurture love, understanding, respect and self-esteem within the family.
Family is the basic unit of a society (Anderson and Sabatelli, 2007). It is from the family where an individual learn the values and principles of behavior that he/she will carry into the society. If members of a family has conflict caused by not respecting the rights of each other, this could lead to the breakdown of communication. Through effective communication, members of a family will get to know the roles of each member of the family, and come to respect that role. Communication is important in a family because this will bring peace and harmony to the family. With open communication, members of the family will be able to express each own feelings, identify any problems that may arise within the family, and solve the problems that they may encounter everyday.
For communication to be effective in the family, a person must know how to listen first. Listening is the number one factor of effective communication. Listening can not be learned but can be put into practice easily anytime. The first thing a person should do is to keep still and lend an ear to the one talking. Second, he or she must pay attention to what the speaker is saying or talking about. This can be possible by making sure that our mind is clear and on the person talking. Third, we must not jump into reaction that cut off the communication, but instead respond to the communication whether it is between adults, or between adults and child. And most importantly, one must not interrupt the speaker before they are finished talking so as to show respect to the speaker and to the ongoing communication.
Studies show that the self-esteem of a person is build from good communication skills of his or her family. This is due to the fact that with good, effective communication, a person, as a child, will come to and be able to discover his or her capabilities based from what he or she heard from the rest of his or her family. He or she will also develop confidence through the self-esteem he or she has come to possess as this will make the child become aware of his or her worth as a person. Aside from this, good communication skill is significant in maintaining good relationships which is part of healthy living.
In order to develop good communication skills, one must avoid profanity. Profanity is usually a bad language or word that can be taken as insults anytime when used in a communication. This insult can come in the form of words and/or gestures. There are ways to prevent the problem of insult: first, one must think before speaking by choosing the right words one is saying so as not to offend the person one is talking to; second, one should think about the way on how he or she communicate since it is possible that the way one say things can mean the exact opposite of what one intended to; third, a person must think about the message his or her body is saying, or in other word, his or her body language when communicating. An example of this is crossing one’s arms when talking to somebody, as this can send the message that he or she does not care about the communication. Therefore, to avoid the problem of causing insults one must be careful when communicating.
Teaching good communication skills to members of a family is very important. This is due to the fact that effective communication makes family members understand the roles of each other as a family and learn to respect these roles. It brings comfort to the family because each member can express and talk about his or her problems openly whether they would be from home or of the society. Example is the conversation that occurred between a mother and her daughter wherein the daughter is telling her mother about what is happening in their school everyday. If the mother knows how to pay attention, spend time to listen to her daughter’s stories, and can talk to her daughter with love and sincerity, the daughter will feel a sense of belonging which will instill confidence and self-esteem in her that she will carry until she became adult. The daughter will likewise treat her children the same way her mother treated her, when the time comes for the daughter to have her own family.
Good effective communication within a family will also bring togetherness in the family. This is due to the fact that with open communication, each family member will be encourage to seek support with one another, and at the same time rely on each other in times of need. It will also make the members of the family trust each other especially for love and guidance and for financial support in times of crisis. This will also help the family cope with the different issues and problems in life.
Families should be taught to spend time together with their family members in order to encourage and teach good communication skills to their children. Usually solid communication is build around the dining table during dinner. Because of this, families should find or better yet set time to sit together during meals in order to enhance good communication. Parents should also exert effort to spend quality time with their children no matter how busy they are. This can be in the form of outdoor activities or a simple get together bonding while watching television or listening to music as this will serve as an outlet for a relaxing open communication among the family members. Good communication is a very important weapon for parents because it helps decrease the power of negative influence on any members of the family. Most of all, we must also bear in mind that the values and attitudes we learned at home are the very same values and attitudes we will demonstrate when we interact with other people in the society. And this can only be achieved through good, effective communication skills.
Bibliography
- Anderson, S.A and Sabatelli, R.M. (2007). Family Interaction: A Multigenerational Perspective.
- Boston, MA: Ally & Bacon.
