Drinking, fighting in front of children is poor parenting

Let me break down what my friend Robert Burale advised in his talk titled ‘Lost parents trying to guide confused children.’ Majority of these parents are in the “mtu aguse mtoto wangu aone” category which is different from our time when strict discipline from parents molded the good characters most of us have. Many modern day parents have complained about our children being “lost” and lacking in discipline yet, they are not leading my example. Here are annoying characters from modern day parents.

1. They drink their weekends away and forget church

Parents drinking like crazy and staggering out of clubs at 7am only to sleep in ditches. They drink their weekends away and forget church. Their kids hardly grow with the fear of God in them and which really helps in character building. They drink in the same joint as their kids or their age mates. They don’t know at 35 one starts drinking at joints with or Soul music a One-Man guitarist and not in clubs along Lang’ata Road or Westlands where teenagers haunt.   

2. Swinging

Some modern parents have joined swingers clubs where they swap sex partners and visit porn sites using their phones which they then give their children who end up seeing their parents in half naked pictures.

3. Revealing clothes

These are the same parents who attend their kid’s school functions in revealing clothes you would think the tailor was short of material. Some fathers also attend in sagging trousers that seem to ask other parents to “take a look at my Tharaka Nithi”. What happened to dressing in Maxi dresses and buggy trousers?  I know many want to look fashionable but even if it is about slim fit please put on trousers that won’t make you look like you are still a teenager. Believe me our great parents were on slim fit and came back to baggy so baggy trousers will be back.

4. Fighting

These same modern day parents see nothing wrong with hurling insults at each in the presence of their children. While growing up most of us never knew our parents ever quarreled. This was the reason most of us desired own families as we knew it was a bed of roses. 
So, parents we need to guide our children. But before we complain about the passengers let’s ensure the pilots are sober. Children are not necessarily guided by words but our action and tend to follow the old maxim: ‘Monkey see, monkey do.’

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