Many parents think money can do everything for a child, that giving material support is all that is needed from a parent.
But this is not enough: children need our love and guidance as they mature. Just two hours a week spent with your child could make a great difference in his or her life.
Unfortunately, there is a growing tendency in our society to leave nurturing children to women and teachers. Some fathers do not even know what grades their children are in. This is an embarrassment.
It takes two people to make a child so it should take two people to raise a child.
Let’s look at the word “education”. Education is what endures after a person has left school. This on its own illuminates the duty and influence teachers and parents have in a child’s upbringing. Beyond a doubt, we are all the product of the people we knew while growing up.
Is it asking too much if one were to summon both parents and teachers to get involved in education? Is it not possible for these parties to merge and together raise a fully rounded human being?
Children have a right to a bright and positive future which can only be ensured by the unreserved involvement of parents – which is undeniably of utmost importance.
Passing the buck and blaming development problems on a child is a waste of time. Blaming teachers is another waste of time. If we place the burden solely on teachers, we are even more to blame as parents. Are parents not teachers in the home situation? And teachers equally parents in their own right?
Is it not also true that some teachers and parents are the product of political instability and violence? Didn’t this deprive them of the opportunity to see their children grow and to participate in their upbringing? Can’t this on its own have a negative impact on a child?
Get your hands dirty; be proactive and do something for your child.
Financial complications are sometimes inevitable when it comes to parenting, but money in itself is not an excuse.
Parenting should start at home and involve both parents. Their contribution ought to be of equal proportion, considering that at the earliest stages of development a child is like a clean slate, where almost every single thing that’s taught will linger in the child’s memory.
This boils down to a parent being a teacher in an informal setting.
Why, then, do many parents disappear into thin air when schooling starts?
Mom, dad, where are you? Your child is calling for your help!
As a child gets older, parental involvement sometimes wears thin and can disappear entirely. Of all the mistakes that parents make, this is the most unforgivable.
Not only are all the stages of growth related, important and interdependent, but they also call for parents’ involvement without any reservations.
After all is said and done, good parenting should provide every ingredient that is necessary for raising happy and successful children.
A good parent-teacher association should:
l enhance parent governing roles.
l involve parents in inspection processes (schedule inspection during school days and open days over the weekend).
l encourage parents to participate in the provision of annual reports and prospectuses.
l make society assess the requirement for home-school agreements (enhancing society-school relationship).
l create conducive conditions for society to play a role in deciding curriculum and evaluating school performance. For example, parental support ( the provision of parenting skills training, advice and guidance for parents) on pupil achievement/engagement.
l encourage and help children with homework.
Real parents must stand up and be counted. I have long observed that most of us, as parents, spend more time either with friends or at work than we do with our families. This tendency results in not knowing how your child tackles the challenges that come with growing up.
Come on parents, let’s talk to our children. Let’s give them the natural, inexpensive and spiritual love they deserve. By doing so there will be fewer children taking drugs, indulging in early sex and committing suicide.
l Qwabe is media liaison officer of the ANC Caucus, KZN legislature. He writes in his personal capacity
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