What is the role of a parent in the education of children? How do we, as parents help our children?
MRS IFY OBIDI-ESSIEN:
Every day children crave to be heard by their parents, everyday children crave for that bonding and its unfortunate what’s going on in this generation that parents don’t have time anymore. They don’t have that time.
The role of parents can never be over-emphasized. The problem now is parents are giving the responsibilities entirely to the teachers at school; to the school system. “Oh! I am paying school fees, why do I need to?” It’s so much responsibility, especially for the parents who are busy. But when parents understand that our children are our greatest assets. No matter how much wealth we try to amass in this generation, it all comes back to us if we do not invest in the relationship; purposely building it.
The family system is at the heart of society. If our parents do not invest in meaningful relationships, we would have broken homes, we would have broken men, and we will have broken women. We will have women with wrong relationships with their mothers, we will have women that will pass on wrong legacies. The relationship I had with my dad gave me strong self-esteem about myself. A father needs to be there for the child. Teach your boys how to be the right men, and teach your girls how to be comfortable in their skin. A lot of children want to be of a different sex because they are not comfortable in their skin. They have not been reassured by their parents that they are enough. They do not think of themselves enough, and that’s why they want to change their gender. Because of that, the world’s system is eating deep into them. A lot is going on. Parents should sit up. We, who even know what to do can get lost in it.
When we prioritize family, a lot will go well. When you are able to get yourself to be that point of contact. When your child runs into trouble, they are able to run into you. That is a success story. So, the role of parents, both psychologically, both spiritually, in every way, the role of parents is at the heart of it. You do not even want to know what is going on in the system today. A lot of bad leadership in our country, when you say, “oh! This person is eating money, this person is corrupt.” It all boils down to the family system.
I want to appeal to parents. Yes, we know that we say that teachers are local parents. That means that in the school system, they take up the role of parents, but that does not mean that you as a parent should fall short because you are the natural caregiver God has created for these children. We have heard stories of rape in the school system. So, we cannot entirely say, this teacher is in charge of my child. Women wake up, and be alert! Listen to the unsaid. There is a way that your child will look at you. It goes beyond words. What is she trying to communicate? A lot of girls have been molested. A lot of our girls have been abused. Our mothers, our fathers, what are we doing? Are we listening to their warning signals? They keep talking to us every day. Being threatened by people outside, are we listening? That’s where intentional parenting comes in. Our parents should be part and parcel of a child’s education. Yes!
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