Adeyemi Sulaimon
Parents have been urged to be mindful of the first three seven years of their children’s development.
Doing this according to Ustaz Abdul Hakeem Opadijo will assist them to raise morally-balanced, god-fearing and highly intelligent children that will not only be useful to themselves but also to the society as a whole.
Ustaz Opadijo was speaking on ‘Child Upbringing through Modelling and Observation’ at the Annual Ramadan lecture of the Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria, Alimosho Central Branch over the weekend.
The first seven years, age one to seven, is the period the parents need to build strong connection with their children.
The parents must relate closely with them by understanding their feelings and showing them good examples.
“The second seven years is the period between age 8 and 14 years. At this stage, we must teach our children all they need to know about life, especially about our religion, Islam. Teach them about Solat, Qur’an, Seerah, Fiqh.
“This period is critical because the children, at this time want independence and would want to do things on their own, so as parents, we cannot be careless, because if we do, we lose our children to external forces that will destroy their lives,’ he explained.
Opadijo, who is a teacher and child upbringing counsellor, advised that parents can create competitions that would boost their spirituality and intellectualism.
The last seven years, which is age 15 to 21, is the most dangerous in child’s development.
This period, Opadijo said, is that of giving advice to the children.
Speaking earlier, the Amir (President) of the MSSN, Alimosho Central Branch, Mr Abdulhafees Adekola, said the choice of the public lecture’s topic was borne out of the prevalent decadence in the society, which he attributed to poor upbringing of the children.
He said the MSSN was only fulfilling its social responsibility to the community by organising the lecture, especially in the Holy month of Ramadan.
The Chief Imam of Alimosho Central Mosque, Sheik Bashir Amoo appreciated the effort of the MSSN and prayed Allah to reward the organisation abundantly.
