Parents urged to go back to basic parenting
MANDEVILLE, Manchester THE TRAGIC deaths of our girls and young women have seemingly become a staple item in the media over recent months.
It is with heavy hearts that women, particularly mothers, sit and watch how ruthlessly their fellow sisters and the nation’s children are being cut down.
“I wish people would go back to the days where we are our brothers’ keeper and we had the village growing a child,” said Carolyn Russel-Smith.
“People are so selfish and narcissistic; they only think about themselves and their children – some don’t even think about their own child. It’s about material things, and they’re not realising what is happening.”
Russell-Smith, who owns and operates the Khulcha Dance Studio, mentors several young girls and is very passionate about their holistic development.
“Parents need to teach kids values, and kids must realise, too, that they need to be appreciative of what their parents give them. Sometimes they (children) are selling their souls to the devil for 10 cents or a little free ride. Parents must spend quality time raising their children. It’s more than just buying things for them.”
For her, it’s about loving all children, not just your own.
“I talk to my kids on a one-to-one (basis) and teach them to value themselves, and when they value themselves they won’t put themselves in a compromising position.”
Russell-Smith told Family & Religion that she wants more to be done by the powers that be, to help stem this growing malady.
“They need to educate people at a level they can understand. Some people’s reasoning ability is not so good. We need to seek to break the trend of poor parenting.”
LOVE TRANSCENDS
She further mentioned, “Love transcends love: if you love yourself and you love people, you know how much you could break down? And we need to put God at the forefront – manpower can’t do that. The devil is roaming and we need to realise there is a Supreme Being and we need to call on Him: we need love.”
Another worrying concern for Russell-Smith is the fact that adults don’t always live an exemplary life.
“We need to revisit how we do things: we fail the kids. We don’t always set an example. (if) There’s no book out there to tell you about parenting, use your God-given common sense and your principles and your morals.”
She implored all the persons in positions of influence to play a key role in adding value to the lives of the children with whom they come in contact.