By Tahna Weston
Two Ministry of Education officials are offering some counsel to parents on instilling good behaviour in their children with the new school year now underway.
Young people have been under scrutiny for their less than acceptable behaviour in recent months – and the blame for their actions has been pegged, by some, squarely at the feet of parents.
Some young people have been involved in violent incidents and are allegedly involved in gangs, which many attribute to parents not instilling strong values and discipline in their children from an early age.
Director of Education Clare Browne and his deputy Jonah Greene, during individual interviews prior to the opening of school, proffered some advice on how parents can deal with and support their children.
Browne advised that parents should pay careful attention to what their children are doing and with whom they associate.
With some young people reportedly carrying weapons in their bags, Browne is admonishing parents to check their school bags.
“You have to get to know their friends, know where they are going, know the people who they are hanging out with, know what they are doing, be a part of their activities, invite their friends to your homes, and sit down and talk with your children,” he continued.
“Perhaps one of the, if not the, most important thing is that parents need to be a good example to their children. You cannot say to your children do this and do that and then you are doing the exact opposite. We have to be careful of the things we say, how we discipline our children, the language we use, the violence we use in the name of correcting and disciplining,” Browne advised.
He said if parents are not careful in how they deal with their children, they could perpetuate a kind of violence that students emulate.
Browne, who referred to himself as a church man, stressed the importance of parents ensuring that their children attend church.
“We need to get our young people exposed more to wholesome things. Find a wholesome activity that will help your children to develop well. Send them to some sports club, we have various clubs around. Help them to get involved in something that is worthwhile, that is wholesome,” he added.
Deputy Director Greene said “training begins at home”, thus the role of parents is vital in ensuring that their children learn and exhibit positive behaviour.
Speaking as to what parents can do in the home, Greene said they should continue to promote positive behaviour in the form of children being tolerant of each other and having basic manners.
“We need to go back to those basic disciplinary procedures – the things that we used to do at home within our home environment where parents teach positive behaviour. And parents, they don’t only teach it verbally, but they also teach it by their own actions.
“Once that happens within the home environment then it is reinforced at the school level. And by us working very closely together and even within the communities, as we work together and as this loop actually completes itself, then you would see our children behaving much better,” Greene posited.
Being a former school principal, the deputy director said that those children with positive, strong parents generally behaved better than those coming from environments where parents were more lenient and where positive behaviour and expectations of children were not reinforced.
Greene is encouraging parents to reinforce positive behaviour and to encourage their children to have basic values, such as manners, saying please, thank you and excuse me, ensuring personal space, and waiting to be excused. She said these are fundamental to reducing conflict.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Gaston Browne has also voiced his concern about parenting in the country, touching on the critical role parents play in shaping their children’s lives, conduct and personalities.
