Raising Happy Kids: Survey Highlights The Importance of Teaching Children Good Social Skills
       By: Hasbro
Posted: 2008-08-05 05:34:07
According to a new nationwide survey of nearly 1,000 parents, teaching our children good manners and basic socialization skills is critical for raising happy, well-adjusted and successful kids. However, due to a number of factors, parents are finding it increasingly difficult to teach children these important skills. The survey, conducted by Mom Central, Inc. on behalf of Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE: HAS), revealed parents' perspectives on the importance of social skills in their children's lives, the current methods of teaching them and their impact on children's future happiness.

"Parents have come to recognize social skills, more than mere niceties for everyday life, are the base for raising 'great kids' who ultimately become successful, confident and happy adults," says Stacy DeBroff, CEO of Mom Central. "These skills, which include listening, being polite and knowing how to share, shape how a child will be perceived by their peers, teachers, adults, and ultimately employers."

Parents Rate P's & Q's over ABC's

According to the survey, 90 percent of parents consider social skills vital to their children's happiness and confidence. A full 98 percent of parents consider it important for their child to be able to share, listen well and have good manners - and nearly eight out of 10 parents consider these social skills more important than academic skills when it comes to their child's overall happiness. Parents also ranked social skills higher than academic skills in nearly every category of childhood development.

"More than ever, our children must get along with others to function effectively," says DeBroff. "In this age of team sports and structured play, it has never been more critical for our children to master socialization skills. From children's play groups to collaboration in the classroom, kids today engage in significantly more structured group activities, raising the profile and the necessity for good social skills."

Struggling with Socialization Skills

Despite the overwhelming significance they place on social skills, today's parents find it a constant struggle to teach their kids proper manners and necessary socialization techniques. Although the vast majority of parents consider listening a critical skill, only 10 percent consider their children excellent listeners. Yet, when it comes to basic academic skills, 52 percent view their children's skills as excellent.

"As preschools and kindergartens turn to an increasingly academic curriculum, the necessity is that children come into the classroom with basic social skills in place," says DeBroff. "Additionally, there are many resources for assistance in teaching academic skills; however the tools and help for teaching social skills are very limited. It is really up to the parents to figure it out."

As a result, many parents feel overwhelmed with teaching social skills and more than one-third say that teaching social skills often leads to frustration. Parents attribute this frustration to today's technology, over-scheduling and emphasis on personal achievement, all of which foster an unreceptive environment difficult for both teaching and learning social skills.

So Many Manners ... So Little Time

In related research, Hasbro found that the multi-tasking moms of today often address issues such as good manners and listening during high-stress situations when they are forced to correct bad behavior, making the teaching of these skills reactive and negative rather than proactive and positive. Most parents surveyed find themselves correcting their child's social skills multiple times each day with nearly one-quarter correcting their children's poor behavior more than five times a day.

"While parents understand the need for behavior correction, it can become frustrating," said DeBroff. "Especially with the added time pressures of a typical busy family schedule. We don't want to spend what limited time we do have being the 'bad guy' and constantly correcting our children's behavior."

New Tools Available

More than eight out of 10 parents believe turning social skills into a fun and educational activity would help reinforce basic skills and almost seven out of 10 believe activities would turn the usually negative experience into a positive and helpful way to improve their relationship with their child.

"This knowledge, coupled with the recognition that raising great kids is both incredibly challenging and unbelievably rewarding, prompted us to create a tool that would provide help to Moms nationwide," said Jill Hambley, Vice President of Marketing, Hasbro Games.

This year, Hasbro launched NOODLEBORO(TM) Games, a collection of games from Playskool designed to nurture preschoolers' social skills through laughter and play. Sharing, saying "please" or "thank you" and learning how to listen has never been more fun! Each NOODLEBORO game is designed to help children understand a specific social skill, such as manners, listening or sharing, in interactions with others. NOODLEBORO games provide parents and care givers with a fun, positive teaching tool to reinforce important social skills in children as they prepare for kindergarten.

"For generations, parents have used games with their preschoolers to teach academic skills like colors, numbers and letters," said Hambley. "Similarly, NOODLEBORO games were created to reinforce social skills. They are designed to give parents a helping hand when it comes to raising great kids by making social skill learning a little bit easier and a lot more fun."

About Hasbro: Hasbro (NYSE: HAS - News) is a worldwide leader in children's and family leisure-time entertainment products and services, including the design, manufacture and marketing of games and toys ranging from traditional to high-tech. Both internationally and in the US, its PLAYSKOOL, TONKA, MILTON BRADLEY, PARKER BROTHERS, CRANIUM, TIGER and WIZARDS OF THE COAST brands and products provide the highest quality and most recognizable play experiences in the world.
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