THESIS: This trend needs to change so that parents and children get quality time together for this greatly contributes to their overall growth and development
- IMPORTANCE OF PARENTS IN THE LIVES OF THEIR CHILDREN
- Parents role in the lives of their children
- Reasons for the lack of parent involvement
- Thesis statement
- INVOLVEMENT AT THE SCHOOL LEVEL
- Participation in children’s academics
- Involvement in co- curricular activities
- Always partnering with teachers
- PARENT INVOLVEMENT OUTSIDE SCHOOL
- Going to church with their children
- Visiting recreational facilities together
- Doing physical activities together
- ROLES OF PARENTS IN THE LIVES OF THEIR CHILDREN
- Instill moral values in the children
- Provide comfort to the children
- Always be available for the children
- CONCLUSION
- WORKS CITED
There are so many reasons as to why parents are no longer involved in the lives of their children. There are so many reasons that they give for this behavior but they are not good enough to justify their actions. Most parents think that it is enough that they provide for their children and so need not to be involved beyond giving them a good life. But this is where they get it wrong (McCarther 145). Educators have raised an alarm because parents do not participate in the education of their children and this makes the teaching and learning process. It goes beyond the school and even at home where parents and children don’t see each other simply because they do not even meet (McCarthey 148). You find that parents are too busy working for long hours, they leave home so early before the children wake up and come back late long after the children have gone to bed. This trend needs to change so that parents and children get quality time together for this greatly contributes to their overall growth and development.
There are so many ways in which parents can create time to be with their children in an effort to get involved in their activities. One of them is participating in school activities. This means that a parent finds time to go to school and enquire about their children and what they do while there (Lincoln & Guba 16). Aside from this, parents can also take part in school activities such attending parents meetings. At the beginning of an academic year, parents can attend orientation events and get to talk to teachers to find out who the teachers of their children are. This is not enough; parents can participate in co-curricular activities such as sports, concerts and student exhibitions. This for sure will ensure that a parent gets to know what happens in school and their participation will greatly contribute to their children’s performance.
Also, parents can get involved in activities outside of the school. This includes activities such as going to church together. Parents can create time outside of their busy work schedules to at least attend church after all it is just one day in a week. It is indeed true that they have to work so hard to provide for their families but it is also good to find time so as to engage in their children’s lives. This goes beyond the church, they can find time to visit recreational centers once in a while, and they can visit museums, parks and participate in activities such as running the dog, hiking and even visiting family friends together with their children (McCarthey 149). This will help them understand their children and to know their personalities. This will also give them a chance to instill good values in them aside from teaching giving them life lessons that they will live shape their lives.
Parents should make a deliberate effort to put a good foundation in the lives of their children because it is common knowledge that they are the first persons and children know and interact with after they are born. In the past, it was always thought that it was enough that caregivers, not necessarily parents could do enough in the upbringing of children. Today, studies show that parents should dedicate time to be with their children because children learn better from their own parents and not anyone else. Parents are the first friends that children make; they feel more relaxed and comfortable when they are with them and not anyone else. It is from this background that it has been proven that children can trust their parents with everything (McCarthey 152). Even in cases where a child has been molested, they can easily confide in their parents only if there is a good relationship between them otherwise they will choose to remain silent. Such children will end up suffering in silence and this will have a long term negative effect on them. Such a situation can make a child suffer in isolation when parents could have done something to help.
It is not enough that parents provide their children with all that they need but not make themselves available to them. On the contrary, a child would rather lack a few things in life but always have their parents by their side. It is always good for parents to find a balance between family and other activities that they find themselves doing. A family or a setting where parents are actively involved in the activities of their children have proven to produce highly disciplined and responsible children unlike families where parents are out of reach. Children need to be guided all the time and the parent is the best person to do that. The church, school and neighborhood can be good but no one knows when these children are going to pick all the negative habits (Lincoln & Guba 72). If only parents are always there then all children will be protected from the harm and dangers of growing up. It is therefore imperative that parents actively involve themselves in the daily activities of the children whether at home or away because this is the surest way of ensuring that they bring up social fit children.
Works Cited
Lincoln, Yvonna., & Guba, Egon. Naturalistic inquiry. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications. 1985
McCarthey, Sara. (2000). Home-school connections: A review of the literature. The Journal of Educational Research, 93, 145-153.
