“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it”
Proverbs 22:6.
Parenting is the greatest need of our societies today. Yet it is gradually becoming the rarest.
Dad and Mom bring forth the children while parents bring up the children.
Dad and Mom rear the children. Parents raise the children.
Dad and Mom are everywhere. Parents are very rare.
The statistics below speaks volume about parental decadence in our world today. When America sneezes, they say, the rest of the world catches cold. This findings being true of America recently, it’s not likely to be different in other parts of the world.
On a daily basis;
7,700 children become sexually active.
1,100 children have abortions.
2,500 children are born out of wedlock.
600 children contract syphilis and gonorrhea.
6 children commit suicide.
36% of children are raised by absentee fathers.
25% are raised by physically present but emotionally absent parents.
Men that grew up without their dads constitute 70% of the prison population.
The active time some parents spend with their children on a daily basis is 35 – 37 seconds.
Some adolescent were asked where they usually turn for help when under stress, parents ranked 48th on their list!
The menace above is widely traceable to the parental failure in our society. By parents, I mean the father and the mother.
I don’t mean to undermine the heroic efforts of some single parents but God’s ultimate is the father and mother who are actively present and united.
Well rounded children are usually a product of a marriage union where separation is never an option. Where the father and mother are perfectly united, because no one, especially children can serve “two” masters. Where the parents walk the talk – go the way before showing the way. Just like Benjamin Franklin’s popular saying : “the best sermon is a good example.”
If the head is sick, it’s needless to ask how the body is doing.
Our society needs more than parents that can pay rent – we need parents that can pay attention.
•Oluseye TAIWO.
