When the Same Room Feels Miles Apart

August 13, 2026 - 01:32

You are sitting in the same room as your child. But are you really together? Screens have a way of filling the silence between a parent and a teenager, turning shared space into separate worlds. It is a quiet drift, not a loud fight. And it often goes unnoticed until the distance feels too wide to cross.

To talk about this, Times Parenting hosted an expert session with actor and mother Juhi Parmar. She spoke openly about the challenge of raising a child in a digital age, where attention is the hardest thing to hold. Parmar stressed that trust is not built through constant checking or strict rules. It is built in small, consistent moments of genuine interest. When a child feels seen, not just supervised, they open up.

She suggested simple shifts. Put the phone down when they speak. Ask about their day without turning it into an interrogation. Listen more than you correct. The goal is not to compete with the screen but to offer something screens cannot: a real, unhurried presence. Connection, she reminded parents, is not about being available all the time. It is about being fully there when it matters. That single change can close the gap before it becomes a chasm.