Parents feel that distractions such as social media are creating distance in family relationships a new study has revealed.
Three quarters (73%) of parents in London believe that sharing stories is less valued than in the past. The main reasons stated being entertainment and social media replacing storytelling (according to 46% of parents) from London. While 44% of parents in the capital said they don’t think families are emotionally close anymore.
The research of 1,000 parents across the UK of children aged under 14 was commissioned by parenting website www.kinbox.com and found that almost three quarters (74%) of UK parents wished they had made more of an effort to learn about their parents’ and grandparents’ histories. This may be why more than three quarters (77%) say that they are keen to share their family history and nearly eight in ten (78%) have passed down stories about family members to their own children.
The research also revealed that when we do share we are most likely to turn to the Mother figures in our lives for advice on relationships, anything spiritual and health matters. Whereas Dads are second in line and most likely to be called on for financial advice.
More than four in ten parents (41%) said sharing family history and KinBox is a new online magazine where parents can share their experiences and advice on bringing up children. It features stories from around the world.
Safwan Hak, founder of parenting website, says: “Sharing experiences is such an important part of life, for relationship building and for our mental health. It’s devastating to think that external influences like social media are taking precedence over essential family communication.”
Safwan and his co-founder, journalist Paul Connolly, devised KinBox with the aim of creating a platform for parents to share stories and read about other people’s experiences as they embark on their parenting journey – and beyond.Safwan said: “Before my Dad died, he and I would take long walks and sit in coffee shops and he would tell me his stories and give me advice about my family and kids and I thought here is a man with great advice.But you would never see this kind of advice in a magazine; there’s no forum for normal people with extraordinary stories or advice and so I decided to start a website where anyone can submit their story or advice and our trained editors would polish it and put it out.We want to savour and spread our families’ stories and to laugh and cry at life’s special moments.”
