By Amos Harris
“Children are to be seen, not heard.” Although this adage is popular with some, we know it’s not reality. Well into the communication age, our children are more vocal with their parents—some healthily, while others take this liberty to talk to their parents with no thought to how their words will be taken.
Healthy communication with parents was our goal and experience at a recent seminar for families. Our team started the interactions by provoking family discussions around the importance and implications of the family being the smallest unit of the society and God’s smallest battle formation.
The time was concluded by allowing the children to say what they would like their parents to do in order to foster unity, peace, and understanding in the home, followed by parents airing what they wanted their children to do to achieve the same results. The children’s comments won several applauses, and a few children won prizes for their statements. See a sampling of the children’s comments:
• With both parents present, a boy said, “I want my parents to come back to live together and give us the support we need.” (He won a prize for giving a poignant statement. While he was awarded his prize, his father was in tears.)
• “Our parents should send us to school and encourage us so we can become responsible citizens tomorrow.” (A girl, who also won a prize)
• “We would like our parents to give us advice of wrong behaviors before we experience them and not wait until we make mistakes before they try to correct us.” (a teenager)
• “Our parents should be patient with us.” (a child)
It was a very rich time of interactions. Who knows what God, the engineer of the family, will accomplish in these families. We pray and watch Him do His work. He is the Divine Conductor.
