Do not be a laid back parent, know what your child is doing
Parents can achieve a lot by monitoring the children.
What you need to know:
- Guardians and parents should know what the children are engaged in.
- Apart from monitoring, filter what your children see and hear. Reprimand if need be.
Primary and secondary school learners are on a seven-week break before resuming studies.
The holiday once again presents a nightmare for many family heads who have to juggle their parental roles and work.
Mothers, fathers, uncles, aunts and others have the responsibility of ensuring the children’s safety amid challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Many are struggling to avoid the mistakes of the long Covid-19 break last year when thousands of boys and girls abandoned school. Many girls got pregnant as boys started income-generating activities.
How can parents keep pace with the fast-paced generation that is always up to something on or offline?
I do not have expert answers but parents can achieve a lot by monitoring the children.
“It’s just a friend” response to “where are you going?” question is not enough.
Security and safety
If possible, let the parent or guardian find out how helpful the child’s “friend” is.
This will help the grown-up offer the necessary security and safety interventions in time.
Related to this, guardians and parents should know what the children are engaged in.
Being busy is not a crime. Parents need to make ends meet. This, however, does not justify child abandonment.
What is the point of looking for fees for a girl who is roaming the estate all day, engaging in risky behaviour?
What is the value of striving to feed a boy who is abusing drugs?
Teach them morals
Apart from monitoring, filter what your children see and hear. Reprimand if need be.
Teach them morals. The moral benefits of religion cannot be ignored even by atheists.
To my peers, keep yourselves busy.
“An idle mind is the devil’s workshop” sounds cliché but it is true. Read and use your time to improve yourself.
Bring out the you that people can look up to in admiration. No one cares about how much you can ruin yourself apart from your family. The best the others can do is pity you.
Nothing is as painful as a dream not achieved. It is like staying hungry while preserving your food for a party only to find it spoilt.
Daisy is a student at Mama Ngina Girls High School, Mombasa
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