Parents find time for ‘chama’ meetings and hanging out with friends, drinking for hours, but many barely create time to bond with their children.
Keep them busy by encouraging them to read books that are not school textbooks, pursue hobbies, do housework, youth activities, and sports such as football, swimming or skating.
Most Kenyan parents work hard to provide for their families. Many leave their homes at 6.00 a.m. or earlier, and return at 7.00 p.m. or later. During school holidays, children remain at home alone or with house-helps, spending the whole day relaxing, getting into mischief, playing games with friends, or bent over their phones or other gadgets. Somewhere along the way, neighbours start complaining and registering their displeasure at your teen’s behaviour, together with their peers in the neighbourhood.
Two weeks later, the teens are back in school, and soon after they reopen, the school principal summons the parent for an urgent meeting at the school. Your child, aged 14, has been accused of bullying schoolmates and was also caught with alcohol hidden in their suitcase. Eventually, the child is suspended for two weeks and sent home with their parent(s).
