Counselors,
celebrities and other stakeholders have called for effective parenting
to further reduced prevalence of juvenile delinquency and moral
decadence among young people.
The
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the stakeholders made the
call on Thursday in Abuja at the quarterly Couples Yellow Day (CYD)
forum, an interactive initiative aimed at strengthening family and
relationships bonds.
According
to the stakeholders, who formed a panel of conversation at the event
tagged, “Parenting: Old Meets New”, there was an urgent need for
effective and focused parenting, to inculcate strong family values on
children.
They
noted that parenting in the digital age comes with huge task, and
therefore requires total commitment from parents in order to sustain
core values of hard work, honesty and character.
Daughter
Jack, Chief Executive Officer of Treasure Productions Media and
Entertainment, organisers of the event, explained that since the family
was a nucleus of every society, there was need to build it on good
values.
“In
line with the vision of the Couples Yellow Day of celebrating and
building good homes, we have gathered these stakeholders to deliberate
on effective parenting as the way forward to a better society.
“A
child with no proper parenting is a threat to his family and the
society at large, and that is why we decided to come together and share
ideas on the way forward.
“Until your legacies and values are handed down to your children, you have not finished your work as a parent,” she said.
Mini
Dogo, a broadcaster and author of the masterpiece, “Mum’s Diary” noted
that economic exigencies in modern times seem to have alienated parents
from close relationship with their children.
She
therefore called on parents to deliberately work towards communicating
with their wards to enable them know what was happening around them.
“Values
and instructions are passed by communicating, and that is why parents
must create time to talk with their children, not just as parents, but
as friends.”
Also,
Mrs Chinyere Obi-Obasi, a parent and counselor, said: “The child of
today hears a lot of voices seeking his attention, therefore parents
should make their voices louder than that of others to their children.
“Parents
should invest their time effectively in the lives of children and must
be very familiar with them and discipline them in love,” she added.
Nollywood
veteran and Youth mobiliser, Francis Duru, noted that that there was no
perfect formula for parenting, and however noted that raising
disciplined and morally responsible children was the core of parenting.
“The
family forms the foundation for all other social agents to build upon
and it is very important that this foundation is established properly
right from the start.
“Parents
must recognises the importance of quality time from the limited time
available, so that they can bond with their children while imparting
values and discipline,” he said.
NAN
reports that high point of the event was presentation of “Spoken Word”
by budding poets present at the event, followed by other performances.
(NAN)