The Counsellors (Bungwe la Alangizi) held a meeting with St Kizito Parish parents this morning to explore effective, prayerful ways to engage and support the youth.
Chair of Alangizi, Paul Lungu, explained that young people face severe social pressures, including peer influence, alcoholism, and substance abuse, while often feeling they have nowhere to turn for help. He noted that while social media offers numerous youth-oriented programmes, parents must question the values these platforms espouse and whether they introduce ideas contrary to family and Christian values. Failure to address these challenges, he warned, could lead to family reputational issues, financial hardship, and even tragic outcomes. Recognising this gap, Bungwe la Alangizi convened the gathering to help bridge the divide.
Key Challenges Identified by Parents:
- Lack of Time & Communication: Parents are often too busy to devote quality time to their children or build effective communication channels.
- Emotional Responses: Frustration frequently leads to shouting rather than constructive dialogue.
- Digital Distraction & Isolation: Social media addiction isolates youth, reducing family prayer time. Information overload and advice from “online parents” often conflict with real-world parenting.
- Inconsistent Discipline: Conflicts in parental discipline styles lead to mixed signals, allowing children to play one parent against the other.
- Misunderstood Rights & Entitlement: Youth sometimes abuse their freedoms, struggle to discern right from wrong, or display entitlement that holds parents hostage.
Proposed Solutions:
- Leading by Example: Parents must prioritise making time to engage, pray, and read Scripture with their children.
- Tech-Free Time: Establish a regular “phone-free” time or day to discuss life challenges and teach children to use their freedom responsibly.
- Doctrinal Formation: The parish should organise more sessions focused on church doctrine and faith formation.
- Community Engagement: The wider community should extend love to all children, and youth should be encouraged to accept guidance from trusted mentors.
Youth Perspectives:
In a prior meeting with Alangizi, the parish youth shared their own challenges regarding their parents:
- Harsh criticism and a lack of trust, particularly regarding finances.
- Absenteeism, leaving youth on “autopilot” without positive role models to learn from.
- Overprotection, especially toward girls, which restricts participation in church youth activities.
- Inactive Small Christian Community Youth Patrons.
Bungwe la Alangizi will consolidate the input from both sessions to map out a way forward.
Closing the meeting, Parish Priest Fr. Martin Mulholland appealed to parents to treat their children as emerging young adults rather than small kids. He cautioned parents to prepare themselves for difficult conversations, including potential admissions about drug experimentation or sexual activity, without reacting in ways that shut down communication. Fr. Martin urged parents to consistently acknowledge their children’s positive achievements, concluding that while social media carries risks, family prayer and seeking God’s wisdom remain the most powerful tools for navigating modern parenting.