His Eminence, Dr Samuel Kanu-Uche who is the Methodist Prelate has squarely fingered Nigerian parents for the lack of value orientation among their children and youths.
The prelate opined that good parenting would shield children from deviant behaviours while its lack predisposes them to unwholesome behaviours.
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He spoke on the sideline of the Church’s 39th Bishop Council Conference in Lagos.
The cleric chided parents for abandoning their roles as stipulated by the scriptures. According to him, the church has not derailed from its traditional methods of child grooming.
“The church has a well thought out scheme on how to educate and prune the character of young persons to be in conformity with acceptable societal norms.
“The training at home forms the base on which church teachings stand, but where parents are not able to impact the domestic teachings, that of the church will not be internalised by youths.
“We are in the era of digital evolution. It is expected of parents to censor what children watch or read on the internet in order for their minds not be polluted by indecent pictures and unguided write-ups.
“Children emulate easier what they see parents do than what they are asked to do; therefore, as a parent, what is your conduct like? Is it in tandem with good moral impact?
“Good manners such as respect for elders, greetings, rendering help to people in need, decent dressing, speaking in low voice are all values that if acquired, will help one to be a good person.
“Those characters should begin at home,” he said.
Kanu-Uche regretted that the crave for materialism had made parents jettison their obligations to their children.
He cautioned parents to make out time to understand their children and aid them out of their challenges.
The church leader described youths’ involvement in immorality as off-shoot of parents not deepening the younger ones in the teachings of the scriptures.
According to him, to reverse the trend, parents should ensure that the scriptures are read daily at home to enable the children imbibe its good role model teachings to help them grow in good values.
Kanu-Uche said the community should also be on the watch out for children especially when they were away from home such as in schools and help to retrace any unwholesome act by them.
He noted that sanctions should not be spared when there were need for such, as these would help the erring person to be shaped into imbibing good value orientations.
