Government is set to embark on a national initiative on parenting.
Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs (MPEA), Kirk Humphrey, made this disclosure recently as he addressed a parenting seminar hosted by PAREDOS, as part of the activities to mark Child Month.
The initiative is expected to include the MPEA, PAREDOS, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Youth, to help build out the programme.
“We know people need help. If we do not get this right, all of us will stand to lose out on tremendous opportunities, and will watch our children fail to reach their maximum potential,” the Minister cautioned.
Mr. Humphrey said through the national initiative, Government would reach out to various groups over the coming weeks and years to build out a programme, which he noted could not be a one off.
Acknowledging that parenting was not easy, he also emphasised the need for parents to spend time with their children. He lamented that too often when parenting programmes were being conducted, there was usually a low turnout.
The Minister charged that while parents were committed to their children’s education, they were not committed to their involvement in the children’s lives.
As a result, he said parents would initially come out to parenting seminars but later stop attending, as there was the perception that they were bad parents.
But, he stressed, “that is not what a parenting programme is about. If we are going to get that right, we have to reshape the view that people are bad parents. You are not bad parents, these are difficult times and everybody needs help. We need help with parenting”.
Mr. Humphrey said that society was built on the idea that there were other structures in place to help parents. However, he pointed out, those systems were now gone and the tools originally given to parents were no longer effective in a modern society.
“The society has changed so much. We came to rely on traditional mechanisms of care. We anticipated grandparents and that the community would raise our children. [But, those] traditional mechanisms have broken down,” he lamented.
The Minister suggested that there was a need to relook the island’s social systems to put structures in place to assist parents.
“We have to call back on the churches to step up; we have to call on these NGOs [non-governmental organisations] to step up. We have to call on parents to step up. Everybody has to step up or we will lose the battle, [because] this is a battle,” he insisted.
He added that everyone needed to be involved, including Government, PAREDOS, the various institutions, traditional community groups, parents and children, to reach a consensus on the best way forward to help children.