Parents told to be good role models for their children

A laissez-faire approach to child rearing will have serious repercussions in the long run.

This is the view of Minister of Labour, Social Security and Human Resources Development, Dr. Esther Byer-Suckoo, who suggested that the values which seem to be lost in our young people may be as a result of parents failing to instil those values in their children in the first place.

She was speaking during the official launch of the Barbados Workers’ Union May Day celebrations and Expo at Solidarity House yesterday morning. This year’s celebrations will be observed under the theme “The Future We Want” and will place a strong focus on the youth and their development.

According to the Minister, “Our children need to be taught. They look up to their parents. Our children need their parents to tell the yes, no, right or wrong. There is this school of thought that says, ‘Leave the children and when they are old enough they will figure out for themselves what is right and what is wrong. Don’t send them to church when they are old enough, they will figure out if they want to go to church.’”

“But I think that kind of taking your hand off the steering wheel and letting see where the car goes is a very dangerous way to operate. We have to determine that we have to control the vehicle as long as we can. The day will come when they have to take the steering wheel, but until that time comes we cannot take our hands off the steering wheel,” she urged.

“The biblical truth, ‘Train up a child in the way he or she should go and when they are old they will not depart from it’. That speaks to an active process where we have to get involved and spend that time with our children.”

She stressed that parents have to spend time with their children, enlisting the support of the Church, family, school and service organisations to help to instil these values in our young people. “They are not going to get it by accident.”

The Labour Minister drew reference to the SALISES survey, carried out last year for the country’s 50th anniversary of Independence, from which it was concluded that some of the things that need to be reclaimed include being religious, obeying the law, being in a committed relationship, the extended family, the immediate family, respecting women and men, being obedient, being respectful to other people, being honest, loyal, integrity, modest, responsible for actions, loyal to family, hardworking and showing compassion.

She said the loss of these values is at the root of the social decay, which is lamented and is manifested in anger, violence in our young people, in our schools, bullying and murder. “All of these can be traced back to the fact that we let these values slip through our fingers.”

Teaching children to be good role models and helping them to manage conflicts, she said, would ultimately lead them to be good workers, good leaders and law-abiding citizens. (JH)