Beyond the Trees - Blog - In the News: The Benefits of Family Stories

In the News: The Benefits of Family Stories

Mar22

Written by:Beyond The Trees
3/22/2009 6:36 PM

Are your kids really listening to the tales of your childhood? Probably so. Two articles published recently in the national press explore the benefits of sharing your family stories.

Kirk Semple’s Family Stories as Secret Text for Immigrants (New York Times, March 15, 2009) showed how a classroom assignment – to interview a close relative about their family’s recent history – opened doors to discovery, empathy, and understanding between teenaged children and their immigrant parents.

Life Stories: Children Find Meaning in Old Family Tales by Sue Shellenbarger (Wall Street Journal, March 11, 2009) describes how sharing stories passes down values and softens hard times. The article offers tips (such as alluding to - but not overstating - the moral of your tale) and cites a research study where the ability of kids to retell their parents’ stories was linked to lower rates of depression and anxiety. And as Emory University psychology professor Robyn Fivush reassures in the article, “Even when you think your children aren’t listening to your stories, they probably are.”

- Jennifer Sauers

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