Don’t abandon your responsibilities, dons tell mothers

University teachers, Dr. Obiageli Modebelu, and Dr. Perp Omeme, have urged mothers to endeavour to live up to the responsibility of raising their children and other members of their families.

In this way, the lecturers said, they would contribute greatly to making the society a better place.

The appeal came just as they advised women on modalities for coping with modern challenges.

Modebelu and Omene spoke in Lagos while presenting a paper entitled “Coping strategies of modern day mothers,” during the celebration of Mother’s Day at the CEDEC International Schools, Olodi-Apapa.

The school organised the event to enlighten parents, particularly mothers, on the need to lead a more socially responsible life.

Modebelu and Omeme both of whom teach at the University of Lagos, noted that the topic was imperative, especially in this era of globalisation and technological advancement.

According to them, ultimate responsibility of mothers is to raise intellectually, emotionally, socially balanced children, who are able to function in an ever-changing society.

The lecturers, who described mothers as nurturers and emotional guardians, advised them not to give in to pressure but to seek positive ways of resolving their domestic challenges.

They also urged them to set realistic goals, noting that there was the need to learn how to balance the demands of careers and homes.

They said, “Develop strategies for dealing with your children: Every child is unique and there is individual differences in all the children, a modern mother needs to device strategies to deal with her children in individually unique way.”

Earlier, the school Proprietress, Dr. Ijeoma Unachukwu, said the need to produce more respectful and responsible pupils prompted the institution to organise the event.

She also enjoined women to support the school in giving the best to the pupils.

She said, “Demands on schools are escalating rapidly, and it is impossible for teachers to meet these demands if they spent all the time dealing with disruptive children. For teachers to provide high quality lesson and meet the needs of individual children, it is essential for children to behave appropriately, show respect and responsibility with the joint efforts of our mothers. Obviously, children do not develop positive behavior by accident; it is the result of great discipline, which brings us directly to the purpose of this meeting today.

“We need to establish the keys for building effective children. Effective discipline is our investment in our children, the extra time and effort that it requires, especially at the beginning of a child’s life is repaid many times over in the end. In CEDEC, parents are welcomed as equal partners in their children’s education. As an institution, the school believes that working in concert with families to provide equal education to our children, is a necessity not an option.”