Parents need to focus on parenting

| Wednesday February 17, 2010 00:00

However, there are those who are now in a different position. They find themselves pondering what the future holds for them. These are those who did not do well in their studies. While there are students who are not necessarily academically gifted and might be talented in other areas, a big portion of those who did not do well could have done better.

It is easy to make generalisations when dealing with such matters as the results of a nation-wide exam, however, it is true that many of our young people who did not do well in their studies could have been helped. There are many causes of poor performance at schools. Schools with limited resources, especially in the rural areas, often lag behind their counterparts in the urban areas in performance. Overcrowded schools often do worse than schools with smaller classes.  All these are dynamics at the heart of academic performance for students.

However there is an even more important dynamic - parenting. In this edition we carry a story which indicates that modern parents have largely absconded from their responsibilities. They have left their children to their own devices or other devices such as Xboxes, TVs, computer games and all sorts of things. Current generations of parents seem to have taken their eyes off the ball. They seem to equate modernity with absent parenthood.

Parents need to return to taking interest in their children's studies, setting rules and limits and guiding their young ones. Parenting cannot be left to the teachers. Head teachers in this edition argue that students are too unruly and have no vision. This shows that parents may have taken their foot off the pedal. Parents need to get back to the basics and be the guides to young people.

Re Ba Bona Ha is a welcome development

There is a picture on the back page of yesterday's edition of the government newspaper The Daily News. Two young boys engage in sparring under the watchful eye of boxing coach Joan Louis. The boxing fraternity has joined in the footsteps of other major codes such as football and netball to launch their youth development program. This is a laudable development indeed and we want to congratulate the relevant authorities in all the codes that have engaged in this program. We think the future of sporting excellence lies in youth development.

Indeed a future France Mabiletsa may be somewhere in Xade waiting to be found and polished for the future.

                                                                   Today's thought

'The best inheritance a parent can give to his children is a few minutes of their time each day.'

                                                                 - M. Grundler