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NYCONVO by Tyler Schmall New York office - 646-873-7565 / usnews@swns.com
One in five parents regularly struggle to have a meaningful conversation with their child, according to new research. The study of 2,000 parents of school-aged children examined how modern families find time to sit down and talk to one another amid often frantic routines.
The results showed parent/child relationships can be quite a challenge to create and maintain, as seven in ten parents feel they (71 percent) struggle to communicate meaningfully with their child. Only 10 percent of parents said they’ve never struggled to have meaningful conversations with their kids.
The new survey, conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Zaxby’s, also found that long conversations with your child can be hard to come by, with 40 percent of parents reporting that the average conversation with their son or daughter never goes beyond ten minutes.
Eight in ten parents (82 percent) say they feel like their child avoids having conversations with them, and 23 percent say their child will often give short answers or even just grunts and noises when they try to talk to them.
Sadly enough, this leads 78 percent of parents to feel like they’re being shut out of their child’s life. Children distancing themselves from their parents is nothing unusual, and according to the results, this typically starts to happen at around age 11.
And it’s no surprise that 80 percent of parents wish they had more meaningful conversations with their kid. But there might be more to the issue than just kids ignoring or slighting their parents.
Time was another big factor for a disconnect in the relationship. In fact, 36 percent of parents point to busy schedules hampering meaningful talks with their kids.
And parents can be very strapped for time, as the study showed they only have 33 minutes of time to themselves a day.
The biggest factor that gets in the way of family time for parents is work (41 percent), followed by, interestingly enough, cooking (27 percent). “We wanted to better understand the current landscape of family dynamics and the struggles that our guests may be facing,” said Zach McLeroy, co-founder and CEO of Zaxby’s. “Food is our business, and we are looking for opportunities to facilitate meaningful conversations and quality time for families — whether that happens in our restaurants, in homes or in cars between activities.
As the results of this poll show, Zaxby’s is in a prime position to bring families closer together.” While deep and meaningful conversations with your kids can be hard to come by, the results show that 53 percent of them happen around the dinner table. In fact, when asked when family time is most likely to occur, dinner came out on top with 31 percent.
Food can be a powerful vehicle for family communication, as 58 percent of parents feel that food brings the family together, and nearly every respondent (93 percent) said they talk about food with their child.
Online ordering was also helpful when it came to aiding family time, with 75 percent of parents saying ordering food online as opposed to cooking helps them spend more time with the family.
"Over the years, we have seen Zaxby’s play a part in building meaningful conversations. Our restaurants are designed to be a place for families to connect,” continued McLeroy. “But a significant percentage of our guests are on the go, as demonstrated by our drive-thru volume, and that makes time the hot commodity. We believe that our new online ordering option will increase opportunities for family time. And not just time together, but quality time.”
TOP 5 OCCASIONS FOR ‘FAMILY TIME’
At dinner time 31%
In the evening 29%
In the afternoon on a weekend 14%
After school in the afternoon 7%
In the morning on a weekend 5%
ENDS