"Media, too, were now acting as teachers for children. She said many children liked to adopt the ways of life shown on TV," GCUF Institute of Home Economics director Dr Nighat Bhatti. Illustration by S Jamal K
“As life becomes busier, parents get to spend little time with their children. This trend needs to be corrected and parents should ensure that they spend quality time with their children, especially those in their teens,” GC University Faisalabad Vice Chancellor Dr Zakir Hussain said on Friday.
He was presiding over a seminar on Parenting Experiences. It was organised by the Faculty of Food Sciences, Nutrition and Home Economics.
Stressing the need for spending more time with children, Dr Hussain said that parents must realise that younger years are crucial in character and personality development of an individual. He said parents must be available to help their children.
Dr Imtiaz Ahmad Dogar, the Punjab Medical College Department of Psychiatry head; Dr Nighat Bhatti, the GCUF Institute of Home Economics director; and faculty members Dr Muhammad Umair Arshad, Nosheen Haider and Prof Rashida Zafar also spoke at the event.
Dr Hussain said that parents were an individual’s first teachers. He said children who received proper attention from their parents, turned out to be better and more successful individuals.
He said he had observed that nowadays parents were not focusing on religious education.
“We must illuminate the hearts of our children with Islam and teach them the way of Allah.”
He stressed the need for parents to teach their children the Holy Quran and its translation. He said this would help them take the right path and find solution to their problems in the light of Islamic teachings.
Dr Dogar of Punjab Medical College said that children these days faced several challenges in terms of coping up with the technological advancements. Parents, he said, should make sure that their children do not grow up into confused adults.
Dr Bhatti said that media, too, were now acting as teachers for children. She said many children liked to adopt the ways of life shown on television. This, she said, needed to be monitored.
“In this case, parents’ responsibility increases. There might be several good things children learn from the television and online exposure, there are also chances of picking up anti-social behaviours,” she added.
Dr Ahmed also called for an enhanced parents’ role in character building of their children. He, too, stressed the need for vigilance on the company of children, saying peers, too, tended to shape an individual’s views.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 24th, 2013.
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