Be responsible parents

I read an article titled “Mums and dads advised to take parenting seriously” on The Star Tuesday 8 January 2008 issue. It said that parents should not outsource the duty of raising children to third parties as the move could result in lack of attention and children may fall prey to social ills. Parents should not rely on others such as schools to educate their children.

There is no right or wrong way on parenting. Everyone has different mindset on how to raise their children. For me, I always believe in raising children with perseverance and patience.

There are few points that I would like to share with you. First, I agree that it is our responsibility as parents to educate and teach our children on the relevant and right values in becoming responsible persons themselves. Schools act as “guardian” and “partial parent” as teachers and principals cannot simply put their 100% attention on each and every student under their guidance.

Secondly as responsible parents, we should know the whereabouts of our children. Know what they do, what they going to do, and where they are. Learn and be sensitive to their needs and wants. It is our responsibility to be “guardian” after school hours. Don’t you think so? We wouldn’t want anything happen to our children with increase in crime on children in previous year isn’t it?

I am fortunate (for now) as my little gal is still small. She has a wonderful babysister that teach her well. I may not need to worry too much for time being before she starts schooling. Not to say I am going to push the whole raising issue to schools and babysister (in my case), as I believe in close bond between parents and children starting from their younger ages.

Thirdly, one of the reasons why parents are becoming more reliable on schools and private tuitions due to longer working hours and other life commitment. Yes, our education system may not be perfect and the best, but there are still rooms for improvement. A lot of extra classes and curriculum activities have been organized after classes, in building additional skills and getting students to participate actively in outdoor activities. With such activities and parents busy go about their chores, children is seeing less of their parents and not that attach to them. However I think this is case-to-case basis. Some children tend to be more attached to their parents even they didn’t seeing them often. Family bond and quality family time play big part here.

Once a colleague commented on lack of time to be with her children. She felt guilty of not spending enough time with them due to work commitment. However on weekend, she will bring her children to family outings and spending as much time with them. That was many years ago, and her children are now in secondary schools. Thank god that both children are very independent, mature and growing up to be responsible teenagers.

Going back to the issue of parents should take parenting issue seriously. As you see, it is a rather difficult decision for parents on not to rely on other to educate their children. I believe every rational parent would love to teach and nurture their children under their care without relying too much on other. However, with many commitments in life, parents simply have no choice but to place their trust on other institution, such as schools and tuitions to teach them instead. Nevertheless, the main responsibility still rest on the shoulder of parents. Unless one parent is a SAH (Stay-at-home) parent, the above would not be an issue afterall.