What Children want...

Abraham Kirwa

During the course of the conference, I attended a parenting workshop by Pastor Simon Mbevi where the parents and their teen kids were on the same room . The teenagers were asked what are some of the things they would like their parents to change and their answers were interesting. The very first thing was, get off the phone. These teenagers think that we parents spend more time on the phone talking to other people than communicating to them in person. They wished that parents would spend less time on their gadgets and more with them. The second point was that they would wish their parents would provide structure and discipline than letting them do whatever they want. The pastor shared of this one kid who went to him and told him that he smoked weed at school and allowed himself to be caught so that he would be expelled so that the father would find some time to talk with him. When he was sent home with a letter of expulsion to his parents ,the father read it and told the mother to deal with his stupid son. From that day the boy made a decision to live his live as if his father is dead. He tried everything to get his attention but the father was too busy watching the TV and answering calls of other people while his own home was burning down. They also expressed their concern at their parents always comparing them (children) with how they (parents) grew up in Africa. Reminding them every moment how spoiled they are as opposed to the parents who walked several miles to school; but for the teenagers they have everything. They also said their parents watch too much KTN news from Africa which they have no clue about. They want them to be relevant. This is just the tip of the iceberg on the materials received from Pastor Mbevi. Bottom line, take time to know and listen to your children. This will mean cutting a lot of things out of your schedule and making a deliberate effort to connect with your children, you are their hero no matter what!

Fb