Parents are avoiding hard conversations with Gen Z

Difficult conversations with parents are rite of passage for childhood. whether it’s about friendship, grades, mental health, or romance. However, a new Gallup poll shows that while at least 80% Gen Z says these conversations helpful, their parents are shying away from having them. Gallup surveyed 1,675 pairs of children between the ages of 10-18 and one parent. Here’s what they found.

• Most parents are worried about their children: 80% of parents said they worried about at least one aspect of their child’s life. The top topics of concern were the future (42% of parents), mental health (40%), school experiences (40%) and physical safety (40%). One average, single parents worried more than couples (44% vs 32%), and Black or Hispanic parents worried more than the average parent (41% and 40% respectively compared to 32%).
• Easy topics versus difficult topics: Parents are most likely to say it’s easy to discuss their child’s grades (78%), safety (76%), substance use (75%), and friendships (73%). However, this drops by about 20% for social media and feelings.
• Parents may not talk about hard topics even if they worry about them: Parents who find a topic difficult to discuss are less likely to bring it up, even if they worry about it a lot. For example, 74% of parents who worry about their kids’ social media use and find it easy to discuss said they talk about this topic often, compared to only 44% of parents who worry but find the topic difficult to discuss. Meanwhile, 71% of parents who don’t worry about how their child expresses their feelings say they often have conversations about this. Only 53% of parents who do worry about this but find it difficult to talk about end up bringing up expressing feelings with their children.

“Many parents are avoiding conversations about these very topics they are most concerned about. Less than half of parents who often worry about their child’s future plans, mental health and experiences on social media say they frequently discuss these topics with their child. But there is widespread agreement among kids themselves that talking with their parents about all these subjects — even the tough ones — is helpful,” the report’s author wrote.