MAY YOU NOT WEEP OVER YOUR CHILDREN AS THEY RETURN TO SCHOOL – By Dr. Bola Adewara

We live in a wicked world where children have become soft targets of terrorism and easy prey of enemies. However, despite all the challenges of a fast-changing but less secure world, especially the care of children in educational institutions, parents can be in peace and more confident of raising their children from the beginning of

* We can raise children without losing them from the beginning of each term to the end.

each term to the end if they follow these tips. These are deep thoughts on the care of children, security in schools, children activities in the home-front, social media manners and other simple etiquettes by Dr Bola Adewara.

YOUR CHILDREN AND THEIR SCHOOLS

* If your children are old enough to understand you, sit them down and let them know that a new term has started and Nigeria of this week is not the Nigeria of last week. Things change daily, especially security situations: food security, health security, relationship security, etc.

* Tell them to be careful. Don’t receive favours unnecessarily from people. Free rides from people your parents do not know is a no-no. Taking food items from anyone at all is prohibited. If anything is given, thank the person but tell the giver ‘I have to show it to my parents before eating it.’

* Have the contacts of your children’s teachers. Ensure they enter the gate before leaving when you drop them off at school. Exchange greetings and establish eye contact with the security person/s at the entrance to establish that you dropped them.

* Let the teachers/security know who picks them after school. If you, let them know. When you do not pick them, let them know the alternative arrangements.

* If you have private arrangements to take your children to school, like using Okada (forget that!) or tricycle (Keke Napep), ensure you know the driver to his root, a man who knows he has no hiding place. Without this, take your children to school yourself.

The Family as Mentor  – By Dr Bola Adewara

Children told to embrace non-violent communication

* The best arrangement is for the school bus to do the job of picking and dropping them. If the school bus drops them at home, someone must receive them from the bus. Anytime they return home, check their bodies in case of any bodily harm.

* For peace of mind, keep your children in a boarding school or locate a good school for them in your vicinity where you can walk to and from to pick them.

* If your children take food to school, call their teachers to ensure they eat them rather than buy food from food vendors you are unsure of. Some children only have mouths for decorations! They will never eat until they are forced. The way you packed the food, the same way they return to sender. Engage the teacher to assist you in this regard.

* Give your children water to school consistently. Let them learn to be friends with water to aid digestion.

* Show appreciation to teachers. Yea, some schools discourage parents from giving gifts to teachers not to induce them to show favours in marks to children. Good move! But you can show appreciation at the end of the term to the teachers for a job well done.

YOUR CHILDREN ON SOCIAL MEDIA

* Be very discreet with your children. Give out less information about them. If your friends don’t know your secrets, your enemies won’t use them against you. Remember that your enemies were once your friends! Keep your mouths shut!

* It’s good to celebrate your children on resumption, birthdays, etc, but don’t publish the name of schools they attend. Please. Aye ti gbege fa!

* Be spiritual. Nothing happens in the physical without the permission of the spiritual. Anoint your children. Make your children confess Christ so you can serve them the Communion. Hold devotions or prayer meetings in the mornings and nights. Remember, the devil is not tired. If he can’t get you, he is targeting your children.

* Tell your children to be careful with social media. Limit themselves to people they know from outside the social media.

CARE OF CHILDREN AT HOMEFRONT

* Mothers, ensure your children (and even daddies) eat before leaving home every morning. It could be pretty difficult with most mothers but make una try. When the tummy is filled, the temptation is little.

*Watch what your children see on social media

* Tell your children to be careful with the appliances when parents are away. Be careful with the kitchen utensils, sharp objects, electricity, gas, etc. Don’t take phones near the oven or gas (if what we read on social media is true). Be careful with the Air Condition unit. When there is a power cut, switch off the power from the walls.

* Parents, concerning phones and TV, put your children in check. What some children watch on these screens in the absence of their parents are terrible. Paedophiles are all over the place. People you don’t expect, family members, church members, neighbours, peers, etc., introduce children to porn sites.

* If parents don’t know how to engage parental guidance on DStv or phones, read about them online. Or contact me on WhatsApp at +234-8057-84-9480. Don’t destroy your children with phones thinking you are showing care or proving points in your society.

* Spare the rod…? I say, ‘Spare the rod….? The Bible can’t be wrong. Dear parents, in raising children, do not take the rods away from the teachers. And to you teachers, please use the rod in love. Don’t beat any child where the weal (bodily marks) would be visible. Any parents would be angry. Let the lines fall in pleasant places like palms, buttocks or under their feet (Bastinado). Parents, the rod cannot kill your children. The Bible is not a liar!

* When children are sick, don’t fret. Don’t panic. The child is not dying. Take charge first in the spirit with relevant verses even as you take the child to see a doc.

CHILDREN AND ETIQUETTES

* Teach your children to greet people around them and move on. Give respect to elders. Give things with the two hands. Don’t stretch your hands first to shake elders. Vacate your seat when elders have no place to sit. Give support and right of place at ATM, banks, etc. to the pregnant, the sick, and the aged.

* Let your children work at home. Stop running around for your children. From ages two to three, they should start washing their underwear, cleaning their shoes, bringing water from the fridge, join you in cleaning the car, no matter how poorly they do it. Stop saying, ‘I don’t want my children to suffer the way I suffered. You served your parents. Now, you are serving your children! Let them learn the hard way. With or without you, your children will live!

* Lastly, teach your children to be free with God. God is their Father, their Owner. You are just a caretaker! Give them a good lecture on the power of God. Let them go to Sunday schools. Let them attend Bible classes in Churches. Parents, help the Sunday schools in your Churches.

* There is so much to write on the care of children, but with these few lines, they will turn out well in Jesus name. Amen.