NIA CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (May 31, 2016) — The following is an address delivered by Premier of Nevis and Minister of Education in the Nevis Island Administration (NIA) Hon. Vance Amory, on May 31, 2016, to launch Child Month 2016. The month commences on June 01, 2016.

 

Fellow Nevisians, Residents and Visitors,

 

Our annual Child Month will once again be celebrated during the month of June. It will be celebrated under the theme “Instil values, build strong children, secure the future.”

 

During this month of celebration, parents will be encouraged to take their rightful place in shaping the lives and future of our nation’s children. There will be a national focus on our children and issues that impact their development.

 

Values are beliefs that each person considers important to him or herself.  They are important in parenting since they deeply influence all behaviour, attitudes and affect decisions and relationships. 

 

Values provide a powerful way for parents to influence their children and shield them from the adverse forces they may encounter in the outside world. Values such as honesty, integrity, fairness, respect and love should be taught to our children on a daily basis.  

 

As parents, our children learn their life lessons from us. Sometimes, what we teach them will be conscious and explicit.  At other times, they will learn by observing how we behave, the language we use and the way we respond to a situation, a person or group of people. 

 

As they mature, our children will understand what our values are and overtime they will develop a value system of their own.  As Proverbs 22:6 says: Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.”

 

When we instil values into our children, we are effectively making them stronger and securing their future. There is no greater value that we can impart to our children than love. Our children gather strength when they are certain of their parents’ unconditional love. Such love offers the unwavering security that helps our children to develop the resilience to face life’s difficulties with confidence. 

 

Our goal as parents should be to raise children who are strong and resilient. We should raise them to be socially and emotionally intelligent, to be able to recover from disappointments and failures, and to forge ahead throughout their lives. We should ensure that we raise our children with the ability to deal with the stresses of academic performance, media messages, peer pressure and family tension.

 

As we keep this year’s theme in mind even beyond child month, we should ensure that all of our children actively participate in wholesome activities. Teach them to respect themselves and others, regardless of age, race, gender appearance or behaviour. Teach them to submit to those in authority over them. Teach them to respect the property of others. 

 

Children ought to learn to not be envious of others and not to think that happiness is determined by material possessions. Teach them and reward them for their efforts in demonstrations of good moral values like honesty, truthfulness, helpfulness, kindness and other virtuous displays. Teach them self-control and how to resolve conflicts peacefully.

 

I believe if we instil these good values, we’ll indeed build strong children and our future and theirs, will be secured.

 

I take this opportunity to wish all a successful, happy and safe Child’s Month. It therefore gives me great pleasure in declaring the start of Child Month 2016.

 

Thank you and God Bless you and may we achieve the goal of making our children better people by teaching them values so that we can secure their future and the future of our country.

 

Thank you and God bless you.