FAMILY: The first school for children.
The child is a gift from God and as such should be handled with utmost love and care. The child is very docile to any formation he receives at the beginning of his life’s journey, however, this part of life seem to be overlooked due to the so called “busy schedule of some parents’’. The child is allowed to be groomed in day care centres, after which the domestic assistants then take charge over the child’s welfare at home while the parents are taken over by the “rat chase’’ to provide the resources needed. Hence, the primary responsibilities of the parent to nurture their children in the ways of the Lord and to teach them the foundational lessons to groom their character are absconded. This might eventually lead to grave and bitter consequences in the life of the children and that of the parents.
You may have heard the story of a convicted criminal, who was passed a death sentence. While he was growing up, he did all sorts of evil and the mother never cared to correct him, so while awaiting the shooting squad, he pleaded to have a word with his mother, when she came close to him to listen to his final words before his death, he gripped the mother’s ear with his teeth and bit them hardly. That was her bitter reward for not training her son properly.
The Holy book rightly puts it this way, “He who spares the rod hates his son but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.’’ (Prov. 13:24).
Many youths are indulged in juvenile delinquencies due to the lack of basic training by the family and/or guardians. Life training begins from infancy and not in adulthood. In the journey of life, we are to be careful not to neglect our responsibilities and duties towards every child in our jurisdiction. Medical professionals refer to them as their patients, so also do teachers refer to them as their students or pupils. We are to assist the parents to make our society a better one and a wonderful place to be by showing children good examples by our way of lives.
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