A new survey, conducted by websites KidsHealth.org and Time For Kids, found that the vast majority of parents are proud of their kids. However, not all children are getting their parents' message as there is a large number who thought that their parents are not proud of them.
The survey, which involved more than 900 parents and 9,000 kids, aimed to take a look at the relationships of parents with kids aged 8 to 14 years old. Results show that 82 percent of parents claimed that they were proud of their children, while only 69 percent of surveyed kids said that their parents were proud of them.
While the discrepancies are not huge, the researchers noticed a significant number of older kids who felt that their parents were not proud of them. 75 percent of younger kids said their parents were proud of them, while it dropped to 58 percent for the older kids.
They also found that there is a big difference between the figures of older and younger kids who lied a lot to their parents. Almost 10 percent of the younger kids admitted they lied a lot, while it climbed to almost 20 percent for the older children.
"As kids get older, it's natural for more areas of conflict to arise," survey co-author D'Arcy Lyness, child psychologist and behavior health editor at KidsHealth.org, said in a statement. "But parents who continue to convey to their kids the things that make them proud provide a firmer foundation on which to continue to foster their relationship."
Reacting to the survey, Suzanne Zimbler, who wrote about the survey for Time for Kids, told Heidi Stevens of The Chicago Tribune that parents should not assume that their kids knew that they are proud of them, especially during higher-conflict ages. Zimbler added that the survey should serve as a reminder to parents.
"I don't take the results as a message that we should be praising our kids every chance we get. At the same time, we have a lot of opportunities to let our kids know we're proud of them, and this is a reminder to take those opportunities," Zimbler opined.
