GIVE TIME TO YOUR CHILDREN
If you look at the problems facing the family and society today you will realize that the root cause is that parents have no time to look after their children or to give them love.
The first problem facing the family is the youth who are addicted to smoking. drinking drugs etc due to bad company. The youth have fallen into bad company because the parents have no time to listen to their problems or to love them forcing the youth to look for a listening ear or for love outside the family among their friends who sometimes are a bad influence upon them and lead them into bad company. Today social media has become an easy place to make friends. Sometimes the parents do not know even who their children's friends are. It is shocking to note that 14 and 15 year olds are committing suicide. What can be so earth shattering that children cannot share with their parents? But do parents have the time to listen? Do the parents have a good rapport with the children which says no matter how big your problem you can always come to me? Can we stop forcing our children to fit into our shoes or realize our failed dreams?
The second problem facing the family is the large number of people in the old age homes. Children have no time to look after their aged parents and have put them in the aged homes. But is that surprising when
the children themselves have not received time and love from their parents when they were young? When you do not give time and love to your children when they are young, how can you expect it back in return when you are old? As the saying goes "As you sow so shall you reap".
The third problem facing the family is the restriction of the size of the family to only one or two children or the delay in starting a family. This is especially true when the child is a special child. This is due to the fear that the next child may also be a special child. This is an unscientific fear. Even if it is scientific isn't your God greater than the doctors? Many parents abort their children because it will be a special child or have health issues. So what? Are persons with disability not successful in life? Abortion is nothing but murder and bring upon the parents the anger of God. Parents may have a genuine reason for doing so but if we accept that every child is a gift and a blessing from God then why are we refusing to accept the blessings of God by restricting the size of our family to only one or two children or committing abortion? Did you not promise God to receive children from His hands lovingly on your wedding day?
The fourth problem facing the family is divorce between the parents. Many parents have separated because God gave them a special child. When God made man he made woman to be a suitable companion for him. Only then he told them to go forth and multiply. This implies that the man and women are not complete without each other and that the child cannot be brought up by a single parent. The mother cannot replace the father and vice versa. He needs both the parents. That is the plan of God. When children are faced with the divorce of their parents it leaves a deep scar and void in their lives. They even lose faith in the institution of marriage.
Each child is a gift of God to the parents. What the parents make of their children in terms of family values is their gift to God and society. The book of Sirach in the Bible chapters 3 and 30 tells how children should be brought up in the eyes of God. Today let us decide to give time and love to our children so that we can build families based on strong family values.
Avelino de Sa
Financial Consultant and Spirtual Counselor Founder President of Disability Rights Association of Goa Member of Goa State Legal Services Authority