Parents encouraged to be more involved in their children’s education
ALEXANDRA – Be part of your child's life and education now.
A social activist at Kidz Clinic which is part of non-profit organisation Women and Men Against Child Abuse advised parents to change their lack lustre attitude to their children’s education.
Elizabeth Mokwena said this was the only way to guarantee a better future for the children and parents’ (please write in third person unless quoting) own betterment when the children go further with their education, get better jobs and take care of them than harm them as criminals. She said this responding to concerns about poor parenting, lack of involvement and support by parents to local schoolchildren and youth in general.
Mokwena said many families seem unconcerned about ceding everything about and involving children to the schools after they register them in the first school term. She said instead of disciplining them as every family, parents’ and community’s responsibility, they left it to the teachers whose role is to teach children who are already disciplined and willing to listen and learn.
“It isn’t the case in Alex where residents let children stroll in the streets, smoking and in lovers’ hands during school hours. They forgot that their own children are seen by others doing the same elsewhere in the township and ignore them,” Mokwena said. She added that teachers also had no time to haul the children to school. “Their time is dedicated to completing the curriculum and will ignore ill-disciplined children whose parents ignore requests to come to school to discuss their child’s conduct and learning challenges.”
She castigated parents who listened to children alleging bad treatment by the teachers to conceal their own ill conduct without seeking the views of the teachers or schools. Also, she urged mothers to use their nurturing instincts to care for all the children, lead in parenting them and not to fight but collaborate in improving the behaviour of ill-mannered children they encounter on the streets.
Details: Kidz Clinic 011 321 7614
Read: Social decay worries schools
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