Effective communication with children is a human process that can help or hinder development. The term "communication" encompasses both the content perspective (what is communicated) and the transportation perspective (the manner in which meaning is communicated). The most important communication factor, human perspective, has two implications for parents and teachers. The first implication, concerning the notion of community, concerns values and attitudes transmitted to children through either direct or indirect communication. The second implication, regarding inevitability of change, reflects the constant need in a changing society to review and modify communicative understandings. Important in the communications environment are the media, which provide assumptions and limitations that can potentially affect communication. For example, television (a one-way, two-dimensional medium) is typically uninterruptible and can provide only an illusion of reality. Family and familial groups are the most significant factors within the communication environment. Eight suggestions for communicating with children are (1) don't be married to time, (2) don't be too busy to answer a youngster, (3) discipline for positive speech, (4) remember that it's not always what is said but what is done that is commmunicated, (5) retain a child's perspective, (6) be aware of the limitations and advantages of evolving technologies, (7) take notice of the total child, and (8) help youngsters to be creative. (BJD)