JEDDAH, 7 November 2006 — An awareness campaign to teach parents how to treat their children is set to begin today at the Ismail Abu Dawood Hall located in the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI).
The campaign — entitled Father, Don’t Be the Reason of my Failure” — has been organized by the Art and Construction Company with the support of Jeddah Governor Prince Mishal ibn Majed.
Guests at the event include the general directors of education for both the girls and boys departments in the Makkah Region and various directors of government ministries.
The Art and Construction Company sent 10,000 private invitations to parents through school managers. “Through this campaign, we want to let parents know the wrong things they do when raising their children and which may negatively affect them,” said Osama Suwaidan, general director of the company.
The campaign will continue until Jan. 15 and includes three meetings. The first will be held today (Nov. 6), the second on Dec. 6 and the third on Jan. 15. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. and run until 11 p.m. and will include a lecture presented by Saleh Al-Zahrani from Jeddah’s College of Teachers. “I will present 20 quick letters in the format of a son’s letters to his father,” said Al-Zahrani.
Through the letters, Al-Zahrani will reveal the religious, psychological, intellectual, physical principles parents should adhere to when dealing with their children in order to win their obedience and sympathy once the parents grow old.
“How can a child be obedient to his parents if the parents did not treat him well when he needed them. Parents must replace the negative words they say when praying to God to punish their children with positive words of supplication by beseeching to God to guide them on to the right path,” said Suwaidan. He added that some parents pray to God to make their children fail in life or become injured. This is wrong, he said.
Parents sometimes misuse the trust they have been given. There are three people whose supplication God does not turn down. These include parents who pray for their children, the oppressed and the traveler.
“I know of a story where a father prayed to God to break his son’s neck if he smokes. The son began smoking and his neck broke,” said Suwaidan.
During the meeting, two plays will be presented by students from the Al-Thaghr School and the Talaai Al-Fikr School. The plays will re-enact scenarios of fathers mistreating their children and will show the negative consequences of such behavior.
The event is free and open to all. Representatives from the General Directorate of Education in the Makkah Region, the Community Service Center in the College of Education, the Al-Mawada Social Center for Family Guidance and the World Association of Muslim Youth (WAMY) and members of the JCCI will attend.
