Letter of the Day | Parents need support systems to raise children

THE EDITOR, Sir:

November is Parent Month, in recognition of effective parenting, which is critical towards raising disciplined children. As an educator and a parent, I am deeply concerned about the erosion of discipline and good conduct among students, which, I believe, is attributable to the lack of proper supervision and parental structures in the homes.

The home is the first school, and better parenting practices are needed to curb the indiscipline and maladaptive behaviours in children. I agree in part with Prime Minister Andrew Holness’ proposed plan to create legislation that will make parents suffer consequences when their children behave in violent ways. However, I don’t think we can legislate our way towards better values and attitudes as a society.

If people are not able to understand and accept the value of any given set of legislation and willingly conform, then what we will end up with is a situation where the law lacks legitimacy. When this happens, laws become difficult to enforce. There are many examples, such as the ‘no smoking in public’ and the anti-litter legislation. These laws were intended to solve the social problems; however, policymakers now realise that legislation alone cannot change deviant behaviours.

I have no doubt that the vast majority of Jamaican parents are decent, law-abiding citizens who want the best for their children. However, too many of our parents lack knowledge, skills and commitment to be effective; and there lies the elephant in the room.

The three main socialising agents, the home, school and the Church, have to complement each other to develop well-rounded children. It is the home that forms us, the school informs us, and the Church transforms us. Parents are no longer taking their children to Sabbath and Sunday school, and there are too many negative influences on the streets, before and after school hours.

It is not beyond us to find a workable mechanism to encourage and empower the home, school and Church to work in tandem to rescue our children and save our society. Let us start with us as parents, to empower ourselves so that we can train our children in the way they should go, so that when they become adults like us, they will also be good parents.

Happy Parent Month to all good parents in Jamaica. The word is always love!

ANDRE WELLINGTON

Dean of Discipline

Alston High School