Families benefit from multiple means of communication: study

IF YOU CAN'T BEAT 'EM, JOIN 'EM: A new study says families could benefit from having multiple means of communication as their children leave home, including methods like Facebook and Snapchat which are often considered unique to the current generation of young adults.

When children leave the nest to start their own lives, being able to contact mom and dad using a variety of digital means — including text messaging and Facebook — could be beneficial to their relationship, according to researchers from the University of Kansas. 

"A lot of parents might resist new technologies. They don't see the point in them, or they seem like a lot of trouble," says doctoral student Jennifer Schon.