Let’s be active parents

The Monitor Editor | Tuesday October 18, 2022 06:00

The six-year-old girl is currently fighting for her life at Princess Marina Hospital, a scenario which could have been avoided.

According to information Tlokweng Police Station provided, the two children met after school and ended up going to older child’s home. It is not known what could have transpired to cause the older child to end up stabbing the younger one with a sharp object.

While it is not our intention to point fingers, children of a certain age are supposed to be supervised at any given time. There are many dangers in our environment that, as a parent, one would always want to know where their child is at all times.

Of recent, we have heard of children disappearing, the most publisised being Tlotso Karema whose disappearance and ultimate revelations are that he could have been murdered for ritual purposes, spurring anger and heartbreak in many Batswana’s hearts.

Understandably so, because each and every parent thought of their child as they mourned little Tlotso who is yet to get justice. Many parents, if they were previously lax with minding where their child(ren) is/are at a given point received a wakeup call.

Parents started being really scared for their children and that was to be expected. While painful, Tlotso’s demise should have been a wakeup call for parents who take things for granted and as a result neglect their children without even realising they do so.

The questions in many people’s minds is how is it that a 12-year-old could meet up with a six-year old child and go to another child’s home unsupervised? How is it that the two ended up playing alone without any elder being aware that they were there?

How did the older child end up with a sharp object that they used to stab on the other child?

It is understandable that parents have to work and some do not have the necessary resources to hire helpers to mind their children between after school and the parent knocking off from work, but still there are other ways that as a parent you can manage the situation.

We have become as busy as a society that we now don’t have enough time to teach our children right from wrong and in the midst of this some families fight and use the sharp object in front of children and guest what?

The reason why you as a parent are referred to as guardian is because you are exactly that, you guide the child, your children and they look up to you. If you choose to show them that violence is the order of the day that is what they will grow up believing! Let's come together as a nation with sober minds and save our future leaders! They are our gems!