KUALA LUMPUR: Parents should emphasise discipline, monitoring and communication in shaping their children’s personal and social values according to Women’s, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri.
She said parents need to strengthen family values with two-way communication between parents and children.
Parents should discipline children through a balanced and loving approach and be near them continually as love and attention in a family can reduce the tendency for teenagers to look for attention outside.
“Everything begins at home,“ she told Bernama after attending a Bernama TV podcast at the grounds of the World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur along with Bernama Chief Executive Officer Datin Paduka Nur-ul Afida Kamaludin.
“If parents themselves don’t teach their children, then that’s the root of the problem.”
Nancy said unsupervised exposure of children and teenagers towards various online materials caused some of them to assume immoral acts were normal.
“Children today are exposed to all sorts of gadgets,“ she explained.
“We cannot leave them alone without guidance, if we do, it will become problems at schools today.”
Her ministry has prepared the KafeTEEN Teenager Centre that acts as a safe place for students during school hours to conduct beneficial activities such as debates, self development and entrepreneurial programmes.
These centres also function as platforms to help teenagers through their issues in confidence and comfort through guidance and education.
“Sometimes students get back from school and no one is at home,“ Nancy said.
“At KafeTEEN, they can learn to debate, learn about the human body, some are trained to be leaders in economic fields.”
Her ministry also offered out-of-school counselling for teenagers or students involved in immoral activities as a rehabilitation measure.
Such services offer a safe haven to teenagers to voice out their issues without worrying about being stigmatised by people around them.
“We have met 13-year-olds who admitted to have had sexual relations,“ Nancy revealed.
“So we help them through open counselling, allowing them to talk in a safe environment.”
The organising of the National Family Month in November will focus on the importance of active participation by parents in building good relationships with children.
The main event will be held in Putrajaya on November 8 and 9 with various interactive activities aimed at fostering closer ties between parents and children.
These activities will also serve as a knowledge platform to strengthen the family institution.
Nancy expressed hope that the celebration will serve to strengthen a healthy and harmonious family institution.
She believes it will form the basis of a more moral generation resilient to current social challenges.
“I urge parents to bring their families, especially their children, to join the various programmes we have prepared for the celebration,“ she concluded. – Bernama
