By: Patti Hardwick
Every parent worries about their own children as well as the youth of America. Being a mother, I too have worried, and one of the perplexities is to understand how they communicate today, or even whether they communicate. My assumption is all of our readers share the same concerns.
About a year ago, there was a University of Michigan study by Sara Konrath that reviewed 72 sociological studies of empathy done over the prior 30 years. Ms. Kornrath found that empathy had been declining, especially since 2000, and that college students today had 40% less empathy than those students in the 1980’s and 90’s. They tend not to feel sorry for those less fortunate, or to put themselves in other’s shoes to learn their perspective.
The question becomes why, and second, how to counter this trend? Speculation by the researchers was that there is less and less interpersonal communication, and everything has become electronic. How many of us have seen 4 teenagers around a Starbucks table, none talking and all texting? A second reason found was worry about the future, and how can each of them get ahead. Finally, it was not just young people that were less empathetic; this is growing phenomenon through all age groups, in large part to shut off bad news and fears.
Now we must learn how to get through the walls and the maze. When we recognize the need for immediacy, informality, and methods of learning, we can be more collaborative with them, and better penetrate any walls. If they understand that we too want to listen and learn from them, they will open up.
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