The Director/Principal, Queen’s College Lagos, Dr (Mrs) Tokunbo Yakubu-Oyinloye, has urged parents to be prayerful and close to their children, especially in the face of social media influence.
Yakubu-Oyinloye gave the advice in an interview on the sidelines of the institution’s Speech and Prize Giving Day ceremony on Thursday in Lagos.
According to her, there is need for parents to step up efforts in inculcating the right moral values in their children, as the school cannot do it alone.
“Today, we are having our speech and prize giving day, a day to reward and honour our staff and students, to reward hard work, diligence and excellence.
“We are also looking at our students, those who performed well academically.
“We are not just looking at that, we are looking at other values. We have prizes for the most well behaved student, neatest student, most caring and even most improved student.
“For instance, If you were getting 20 per cent before and suddenly you now get 60 per cent, that means you have improved.
“We are also looking at our staff. We have some who go the extra mile, some dedicated and hard working. We are recognising all of these persons and rewarding them as well,” she said.
She called on our parents to strive hard to live up to their up to responsibilities by creating enough time for their children, given the influence of social media on young minds.
“It is no longer news that social media has its negative sides, especially on young children, if not monitored.
“This, if left unchecked, may corrupt good manners and end up getting these children derailing,” the principal said.
She identified lack of supervision and mentoring as one of the challenges faced in nurturing children, especially the girl-child in the digital age.
Yakubu-Oyinloye said that parents must rise up to the occasion to ensure that children get the right values and become who they want to be.
She expressed regret that some parents were aiding and abetting children in terms of indiscipline.
According to her, it is unacceptable for parents to connive with their children to contravene school rules and regulations.
“A child who does such now will keep on doing it, even when they are out of school.
“When a child comes to school with contraband for instance, it is the parents that gave such a child the contraband.
“Some of the wrong attire and other contrabands they are caught with in school, are usually brought from home,” she stated.
The principal also fingered wrong role models as being responsible for moral decadence among children.
“In our time growing up, there was nothing like social media, including internet, but it is not the same thing now, because some of the things that they are exposed to, including the television and telephones, are things that can corrupt young minds.
“We also see people who are being seen as role models, that are not supposed to be.
“These children are easily attracted by the kind of lives they live, maybe because they have money that they throw around, including some of the music that are being played, which corrupt young minds.
“And this is where the parents must step up efforts in a bid to put these girls on the right path.
“Some of these parents will leave home early in the morning chasing money, only to get back home late. They must know that everything is not about money.
“You do not have to buy a smart phone or an Iphone for a six- year- old child, just because you have the money, because you may not be able to control what that child sees on that phone.
You may not be able to control the influences,” she said.
Yakubu-Oyinloye noted that the school was doing its best through its guidance and counselling unit, with moral and motivational talks usually held from time to time for the students.
She said that parents need to be very much involved in raising their children, especially the girls, as there was more to parenting than providing them with all they requested for.
“They must also strive to know the kind of friends their children are keeping. It is very important.
“This will help in knowing if the child is derailing. So, parents must be up and doing, by devoting a lot of time for their children, pray for them and counsel them,” she noted.
She called on the parents to further support the school in whatever way they could, as government could not do it all alone.
The principal noted that government over the years, had continued to support the college by providing the enabling environment for teaching and learning to thrive.
“I must therefore commend the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu and other top functionaries of the ministry, the Parents Teacher Association, the School Based Management Committee and the Old Girls for their various interventions in the college.
“I want to urge the Old Girls of the college to always join hands in lifting their alma mater to its desired height, having been established in 1927.
“Let them join hands with the school and contribute the much they can, to ensure that we have a school system of our dream, so as to achieve the much desired national development,” she said.
The principal stated that the college was faced with challenges in the area of the dearth of both teaching and non-teaching staff, aging infrastructure and inadequate vehicles for mobility.
She said that given the astronomical increase in cost of energy, arising from increased cost of diesel and electricity tariff, there was need for a solar-power plant.
Also speaking, the Chairman of the PTA. Mr Damola Adewuyi, urged the graduating students to remain focused and shun all forms of distraction.
Discussion about this post