By Lukman Olabiyi
Experts have attributed the surge in social vices, including drug abuse, rape, cultism and ritual killings, to poor parenting.
The experts, who spoke at a boy-child sensitisation forum organised by A Mother’s Love Initiative (AMLi), a non governmental organisation in Lagos, to mark International Day for the boy-child with the theme, “The importance of a father and son relationship from the lens of the boy-child” also decried the downward trend in the nation’s education, moral, cultural values.
Speaking at the forum, the foundation President of Computer Professionals of Nigeria, Mr. Tunde Ezichi, said the sordid situation in the country presently could be traced to certain parenting mistakes and certain missing elements in raising the modern boy child.
He said the way I was raised is different from the way children are being raised these days, there are a lot of influences, societal influences, technological influences, security influences, what has happened is that the pressure of the society has tended to affect the people generally, enough time is not being devoted by the parents in the raising of their children.
The ICT consultant said the attitude of parents towards their children by abandoning their core responsibilities and over pampering the children is doing more harm than good.
Harping on the way forward, he said it was high time parents retooled and embraced robust parenting collaboration in raising the children, saying the trust the teachers in school had in disciplining children should be restored.
In her address, the Chief Executive Officer, AMLI, Hanatu Enwemadu, said the boy-child is fast becoming invisible because society assumes that they are invincible.
However, Mrs Enwemadu, who is a lawyer, pointed out that such assumptions have adverse effects on the psychosocial balance and development of the boy-child, noting that if not reversed, the anomalies may turn the young ones abusive in the future.
She called on all and sundry, including parents, teachers, civil society organisations, all levels of government and other stakeholders in the country and African continent to lend their voice against the unfair balance and growing neglect of the boy-child and create more platforms and resources that will promote the interests and total wellbeing of the boy-child.
Highlight of the event was the presentation of prizes to some secondary school students who participated in an essay competition organised by AMLi to mark the event.
