Parents urged to create family time to foster kids’ development
Published:Thursday | July 14, 2022 | 12:07 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Dominican Republic Ambassador Angie Shakira Martinez Tejera is urging parents to give adequate attention to their children in order to foster their academic and personal development.
She made the call at Sunday’s school-leaving ceremony for John Rollins Success Primary at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in St James, where she stressed that parents, teachers, and students were the three key players in education.
“As parents, we live our lives for our kids, and every day is a balancing act, having to work hard all day to support them and then coming home very tired. But you need to ensure that you give them the necessary attention so they feel that they are loved,” said Martinez Tejera.
“I know that it is hard to make two ends meet at the same time, and it is hard to be the provider, to work hard for them, but then when you get home you say, ‘You are the most important people in my life, but I am tired’. You have to say, ‘Okay, even if I am tired, I need to love them, pay attention, maybe help them with their homework’, and you need to ensure that your kids receive the best education and the best life you can provide to them,” the ambassador added.
Martinez Tejera drew on the experiences she witnessed among her peers while growing up in the Dominican Republic.
“My family was not rich, but they were very serious about education, and they were very focused on me doing well. It was because of my education and the discipline I had that I could achieve many things in life,” she said. “When I was in my neighbourhood, a lot of my friends got pregnant at 15 or 16. I could have followed the same path, or just quit school and say, ‘I can just have a job in a fast-food store and get money’, but a lot of my friends did that and now I cannot tell you where they are.”
But while agreeing that parents and children must spend quality time together daily, family therapist Beverly Scott believes that many students are being overwhelmed with homework and this should not form part of family-bonding activities.
“I am not so much for a lot of homework for children to take home, when they are supposed to come home from school and integrate with their parents and play and get to know their family better. I have seen children who go through tears every night because they cannot go through so much work,” said Scott.
“I believe that when children come home from school, that should be the end of school, and they should interact with their parents. They learn enough from their parents by interacting with them, and morals, values, discipline, and how we are supposed to live in the society are what they should learn from their parents.”