Monday, August 29, 2016

The Home Haven For Children

The home has become a hellfire on earth for children. Parents and guardians have made selfish personal, decisions that have corrupted the well-being of children hence leaving them emotionally drained. As a parent and director, I took the opportunity to listen of the ordeals from the children at FreMo Elementary School which left a shocker to ask myself whether a home is any safer, secure and homely for the children of the millennia. Social and domestic issues are happening more than ever in the homes and the burden of it shouldered by the little ones. Every negative decision or circumstance that affects the home pierces deep to have a long-term impact on the growth and development with the academic performance set on the downward trail. We have destroyed our self-images in front our children; quarrels, fights, excess drinking, and acts of violence are the practices of the day exhibited consciously or unconsciously under the watch of the children.


Moffat with Some of the pupils of FreMo

Our modern world has lost modeling due to the lack of compassion, responsibility, and duty to role model for the sake of the youth and their generation. The traditional values that kept us together and strengthened our communities are no longer esteemed. We are not the way we were, it’s the way we are and that is not the way it should be. Despite the progressiveness of counseling and therapy, a few have been enlightened to find remedies in these psychopathologies. Parenthood must go beyond fathering and mothering.

 We are entrusting our children to the teachers in school to bring the best out in them, but it’s timely that we realize that we are be doing our teachers  injustices by sending to them the distress in children, abused, bleeding and heartbroken. They might have the professional skills to train, counsel and propel but these cases are extremes. They have a duty to train, mentor, inspire and propel to creativity and self-pride. Imagine a class of forty of which three-quarters of pupils crying agonizing is an injustice. When we check from the statistics, we realize that a school would become more of a therapy session than a training classroom. It shouldn’t be like these. We are hiding ourselves in our own frustrations domestically, socially and financially but downloading them to our little children. I don’t have any moral standing or authority to judge, crucify, conclude and decide on what happens when homes become unsafe. Ideally, we should be for every child to be jealously guarded, securely protected, warmly insulated against any injustice and be fully insured against any intended or accidental torture meant to cause psychological, emotional or academic fall against their full development and growth. All decisions must be a win for the child. The child must walk as the ultimate winner spared love for his story to tell.

 I am yet to come to terms of what was narrated by our teachers as we sat for our weekly staff meeting. As a culture, we meet every Tuesday afternoon to assess our progress as a team and each teacher gives a brief of how their classes are advancing and if  there would be matters of concern. The Preschool teacher gave her opening remarks and informed us how she was trying her best to keep her class on the move through sounds, drawing, counting, reciting and memorization. Further, she described how she was managing to keep her class under control despite the bad influences and the indiscipline from the time admission. Following were her worst fears so challenging. Most children are coming to school unkempt because nobody is at home to care for them. In one case the mother has separated with father, they stay apart and the father comes home very late not caring whether they have eaten or not. Sometimes when he arrives home with screams while tossing and throwing tantrums and what is reachable, demanding and asking them to produce mama. Last night they slept very late, now this morning the boy walked to school, smelling and having soiled. On arrival, the little comrades were uncomfortable with his smell and therefore reported him to their teacher. The teacher decided to take him out and try to wipe him while talking to him kindly in the event to gather more information on how life at home has been of late. The teacher herself could not control her emotions from what the boy was describing, but as a leader, she tried to hold back tears back to make it better for the little *John.

Moffat Osoro
Founder Member
FreMo Elementary School