That is the way I was raised mentality not okay to raise today’s children ―MYSD to parents

PARENTS and guardians have been advised to erase the “that’s how I was raised” mentality as the sole principle of raising children in a multifaceted world. This is the burden of restoring abuse and decadent free society.

At a town hall meeting organised by the Lagos State Ministry of Youth and Social Development (LSMYSD) for parents, guardians, teachers and caregivers in Lagos on Monday, the Commissioner, LSMYSD, Mrs Uzamat Akinbile-Yussuf, made the charges to parents, warning of the dangers of using old principles to address new challenges.

According to her, “Most parents and guardians see parenting as a natural occurrence” adopting the mentality of ” that’s the way I was raised” in their day to day upbringing activities.

“This,” she said, “has led to abuse, permanent emotional and physical damage of children.”

Linking better parenting to national security and economic development, Akinbile-Yussuf stressed the need for a drastic attitudinal change towards parenting, stating that, “It takes more than love to raise a child well”.

“This is because each child is unique in its own way. Thus, developing good parenting skills will save the society from so many ills.”

The integral part of the town hall discussion was the introduction of a 25 structured guide for improving parenting skills in the state.

The booklet, titled “Better Parenting Nigeria, Community Discussion Guide”, adapted from an Ethiopian Yekokeb Berhan Programme for Highly Vulnerable Children (HVC) with collaborative support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has been regarded as the panacea to vices caused by bad parenting.

The guide covers 25 topics including understanding parenting, understanding children, communication, setting limits, discipline and supervision, being a good example to children.

Distributed at no cost to the over a thousand attendees at the venue, the guide if ‘learnt’ and ‘applied’, according to the Permanent Secretary, MYSD, Mr Muri Okunola, “parents will find out that some practices such as yelling, spanking and screaming will disappear and a positive relationship will be established”.

The commissioner disclosed the state government’s plans to make the better parenting guide available to more parents at community levels as well as holding a quarterly training on better parenting in the year to come.

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