Don’t Allow Economic Woes Affect Parents, Children Relationship–Psychologist

By Grace Isaac, Osogbo

Parents have been urged not to allow the present economic situation of the country to destroy their relationship with their children and wards in whatever circumstances

Afemin feminine Psychologist, Dr Mrs Lawrence Adeyemi who stated this hinted that it is important for parents to adequately take care of their children their children will also cater for them at old age.

Dr Adeyemi who is a Social Worker and Welfare Officer from Osun State government Ministry of Women, Children and Social affairs said most of the parents are bullying their children because of poverty and challenges being faced in the family.

Dr Adeyemi gave the charge while delivering a lecture at a seminar organised for teenagers by a faith based Non Governmental Organization, Justice, Development and Peace Makers’ Centre (JDPMC) in commemoration of 2022 International Human Rights Day, with the theme “Bullying As An Infringement Of Human Rights”, held in Osogbo, Osun State capital.

Speaking on the psychological effects of Bullying and Solutions, the psychologist harped on the need to go back to our culture and traditions saying we have embraced foreign culture which as a result contributes to bullying in the society.

She noted that bullying was not much in the olden days because the norms, values and moral were highly effective and impacted on the children unlike now that the foreign culture had taken over .

She stressed the need for more campaign and sensitization at the grassroot level about the problem of bullying.

“Yes, a lot of factors constituted to bullying and some of these factors has to do with family setting. A lot of our family values have been extinguished in our society today and we have embraced foreign cultures that is inimical to the well being of our society and in view of this fact we need to go back to the tables, to the drawing board and look at where we missed it as a society let go back to the family values and look at the norms we practices then and what we have now.

” Everybody was his brother’s keeper in those days there was no child that was not good, no child was tagged as bad every child belong to the family, family belong to the community and so the community work together to raise even our leaders that we have now and so that is why we should go back to where we started from and do away with all those foreign values that we have in bad and that’s working against our home family goals in our system today.

“Parent bullying their children they need to be enlightened because when we were young the traditional setting told us that if you offend a child the child will never forget and that’s why parent should be reminded often that they should not allow the present situations poverty economic problems to destroy their relationship with their children because the future is bright no matter the challenges today thing will get better and so if they destroy the relationship they have with their children now what would the future hold ?

“Will the children be happy to come back home to look after those parent that suffered ? So parent should take heeled of the current situation of the country and should make sure that they make themselves happy so that when the future comes they will be alive they will be happy their children will also be happy that they came out of it stronger ?

Speaking also, a Chief Magistrate, Mrs Funke Oluniyi While sensitising the teenage students present at the workshop charged them to always speak up to their parents or intimate friend whenever they are being bullied in school by friends

She stressed that poor enforcement of discipline in various schools in Nigeria was responsible for rising cases of bullying among Nigerian students.

She also enjoined parents to stop fighting in their children’s school if they’re being bullied saying they can apply another mechanism and matured way to handle it instead of resulting into violence.

Mrs Oluniyi also advised the teachers to be sensitive to the plight of their students while in school just as she charged the students to learn how to have total control of their anger, goal setting, self assertion , problem solving and friendship building.

“I urge you to challenge injustices and oppression. Speak out if anybody oppressed you. You are not too young to speak out, help the physically challenged in your school, you are in school to learn and not to come home broken.

Earlier, the General Coordinator of JDPMC, Revd. Fr. Peter Akinkunmi said they decided to organise the workshop so as to eradicate the menace of bullying that’s rampant among the students in the country.

“Respect for the Right of every human person is fundamental to a sustainable society.

“Right is not beneficial to God but only to human beings. It is essential we learn how to respect the Right of others for the sake of peace”.