SEVEN TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE PARENTING

The home is the most important institution on earth because the character of young lives is largely formed in the home. Effective parenting is the solution to many of the problems in the world, the earlier we come to term with this truth, the better it will be for us.

1. COMMUNICATION: Talk with and listen to your child. It is important to make eye contact and use gentle touch when communicating with your child. Parents should give clear and consistent instructions but not too many at once. Be your child’s first source of information and encourage him or her to ask questions.
2. RECREATION: Play is critical to all aspects of a child’s development but it’s often overlooked as a valuable tool. Appreciate the value of play as this offers a natural way for children to learn. Play is also essential in the formation of a positive relationship between the parent and the child.
3. ATTENTION: When it comes to your child, the real expert is you. Learn how children develop and know your child’s uniqueness physically, intellectually, emotionally, socially, and morally. Build your child’s brain and body, by providing healthy meals and snacks. Encourage exercise by being active with your child and limit time spent in front of the television or on video games.
4. RESPECT: All humans no matter how young deserve to be respected. Respecting children means that we talk with them, not at them, and we handle their bodies and minds with care, not carelessness. You show respect to your children when you respect their feelings, opinions, privacy, and their temperament.
5. UNCONDITIONAL LOVE: Cherish your child’s individuality. Support your child’s interests and talents all the time. Praise your children’s differences and avoid comparing them or asking why they can’t be like someone else.
6. BOUNDARIES: Parents should set age-appropriate boundaries for their children and stick to them. Be kind but be firm; respect your child’s challenges! Children test you to see how far they can go, it is not that they want total freedom, rather they want to know whether setting reasonable and respectful limits for them will enable them to set their own limits as they grow older.
7. GUIDANCE: Teach your child the right from the wrong. A child’s understanding of right and wrong develops slowly from within. Give them a code of moral conduct and lay the groundwork for them to develop their own moral guide. Finally, guide them to God, pray for your children and pray with them, read and meditate on the Word of God with them and support them to have personal faith in God.

Mr. Olugbenga Ajala

 Headteacher

Winning the War Against Negative Influences: a joint responsibility of all

The Holy Bible says train up a child in the way he should go and he will not depart from it.

 Children all over the world are today under more pressure of peers and societal influence than it was in the past. Many youths and teenagers nowadays are addicted to drugs, alcohol, violence, social media, sexual promiscuity, and so on. With the advancement in science and technology, children can have access to Facebook within the twinkle of an eye. The same for Twitter, Frim, free applications, social networks through the use of their mobile phones and personal computers. They search for the latest information about favourite celebrities to be adopted as their role models. They imitate their ways of life and the accessories they use without due consideration for the harm their actions might bring to their psychological and emotional growth, all-round development, and future achievement. Most teenagers and youths desire to belong and be accepted by their peer groups. They categorize the oversight adults and their parents as old folks, and as such, not current. They prefer to listen to what their friends say rather than their parents and oversight adults.

This is the major challenge being faced by parents and teachers today. It is becoming increasingly difficult to eliminate negative influences found in our children. The war against this problem should be a joint responsibility of the various stakeholders — the home, the society, the religious institutions, and the school.

The following suggestions might be helpful:

• Parents should have genuine interest in their children’s activities. While surfing the internet, the children should be guided on which site to visit, what they post, and how often they visit such sites. The school’s proposed mini laptop with controlled access to internet educational sites may be a good way to check this menace.
• At school, as done in GOF, teachers should be more accessible to their students, maintain open communication with them, and allow them to know the teachers’ concerns for their future.
• The church and mosque should monitor the spiritual development of the teenagers and the youths. They should in addition, intensify the preaching against negative influences in the society.
• The parents, guardians, and other adults should strive to be role models to the youths and the young ones.
• Parents should provide the framework for independent thoughts and expressions.
• Parents and Guardians need to know their children’s friends and be familiar with them.
• Parents, Guardians and other adults should watch TV programmes with their children watch where possible. They should monitor and censor the programmes the children watch.

Written by Kazeem Olayinka

S.S.3B