Not with parents, say youngsters

Are your children talking to
you ? It does not seem so. The survey, conducted by the International Institute
for Population Sciences and Population Council and endorsed by the Union Health
Ministry, covered nearly 51,000 married and unmarried young males and females
from six states — Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and
Tamil Nadu. It found that school performance, a non-sensitive topic, was the
most common area of discussion between kids and parents. In contrast, more
touchy topics, such as romantic relationships and reproduction, were rarely
discussed with either parent (only 2% of young men and 6% of young women did
so). In fact, when it came to reproductive issues, children were equally
secretive with both their parents.

The findings also suggest
that parents controlled the social interactions of youngsters, particularly
those involving members of the opposite sex. For example, 69% of young men and
84% of young women expected parental disapproval if they brought home a friend
of the opposite sex.

Among young women, in
contrast, statewise differences were negligible — over 90% of young women in all
the states reported parental disapproval of love marriage. Almost all those who
were interviewed had an arranged marriage. This led to only 30% of young men and
22% of young women being aware of what to expect from their married life.

Friends rather than family
were found to be the major confidants for both young men and women. Only 1% men
were found to confide in their family members while 85% did so in their friends.
In case of women, 20% confided in family and 46% in friends.