Petuduase (C/R)-Ghana, June 23, GNA – The Member of Parliament (MP) for Awutu Senya West in the Central Region, Gizella Akushika Tetteh-Agbotu, has urged Ghanaians to revive the familial system where children are nurtured by all well-meaning members of their communities.
“Growing up, any family member could advise and even punish any child in a society, and this helped in making them upright, responsible and the society peaceful,” Ms Tetteh-Agbotu explained.
She was speaking at the 2023 Annual Conference of the Lajna Ima’illah Ghana, an auxiliary organisation of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community at Petuduase, near Senya Beraku.
The Conference was under the theme: “Virtuous woman: key to a peaceful society.”
Ms Tetteh-Agbotu said when members of both the nuclear and extended families contributed to the nurturing of children they benefitted from diverse resources in material and moral value forms.
These helped to make them valuable assets to their communities, the nation and the world.
“Let’s go back to those values, but we should not do this in an aggressive manner,” she advised.
Ms Tetteh- Agbotu expressed concern about the rate at which children were being influenced into social vices, such as doing narcotic drugs, stealing, gambling and engaging in pre-marital sexual activities.
However, with a communal approach, delinquent children could be rehabilitated to become agents of change and societal development, she noted, and urged every responsible adult to invest in raising a responsible child in their community.
Naakye Tetewaa II, Nkatasiahemaa of the Awutu Traditional Area, also encouraged family members to take keen interest in the development of children in their societies.
“When we leave our children, especially those in their teens, they’re likely to be influenced badly, leading to the teenage pregnancies and other wayward behaviours that we’ve been seeing,” she said.
“It is the parents that must carry the primary the burden, which requires that they become more vigilant and responsible for their children’s welfare and moral upbringing.
“In our societies today, parents sleep in a different room from their children’s. Many families now live in a chamber and hall apartment. If possible, let us – the parents – sleep in the hall, while the children sleep in the main room,” she advised.
The Lajna Ima’illah Ghana used the occasion to reflect on their activities for the past year and strategised for the year ahead.
They also engaged in sporting activities among the Ekwamkrom, Pomadze and the Senya circuits of Lajna Ima’illah.
