Be friends with your children – Parents Advised

The Center for Grassroots’ Enterprise (CGE) of the Street Children Empowerment Foundation (SCEF) with support from the Ghana Social Workers Union-UK has organized a workshop on responsible parenting for parents of street-connected children in Accra. The workshop was aimed at equipping the parents with the needed skills to effectively raise their children responsibly.

In his opening remarks, Mr Paul Semeh, The Executive Director of SCEF underscored the critical role of parents at the early stages of children’s development, stating that children who have been rescued by SCEF will still need their parents’ active support to sustain the transformation going on in their lives.

He noted that when parents cultivate friendship with their children, they are in a better position to understand and properly handle the challenges facing the children. Mr Semeh, therefore, urged them to prioritize the development of their children by dedicating enough time for them.

‘’As parents, we cannot fully understand our children and the problems they are facing if we do not become friends with them. We must therefore endeavour to build trust with them, that will encourage them to be open to us. Let us not put our businesses above them.’’

Mr. Paul Semeh further encouraged the parents to not only apply the knowledge gained from the workshop, but become ambassadors of responsible parenting by sharing the knowledge to other parents in their communities.

The workshop, which was facilitated by Mama Addo-Yobo of the Ghana Social Workers Union- UK, saw participants taken through child protection, parental responsibility, parenting styles and the laws on children’s rights and responsibilities.

Parents present at the workshop expressed their satisfaction of the workshop, pledging to become better parents and also share the knowledge with their peers.

“I am a mother of three children, so this training has been particularly very helpful. I have learnt a lot and will educate my fellow parents on how to bring up their wards. It is not only about beating and shouting but if you can sit and talk to your wards like a friend, then they will not feel offended when corrected”, Sarah Braide, a parent stated.

The workshop which brought together about 25 parents is one of a series of workshops being organized by CGE to empower parents for them to provide a stable home for children to properly develop.