By Taiwo AKINLAMI

 On Saturday, June 18, 2022, the No Protection No Childhood Town Hall Meeting 5.0 (fifth edition) of the Power Parenting® Company held online in commemoration of the Day of the African Child. It was quite unique as for the first time a session was held exclusively for our precious children and another for the primary and secondary parents.

The program was well attended by close to 500 participants from different cities across North America particularly the United States of America, Africa particularly Nigeria and Europe particularly the United Kingdom.

The No Protection No Childhood Town Hall Meeting, is an initiative of The Power Parenting ® Company LLC in partnership with S.A.F. E® for Children Society, and hosted virtually by the Taiwo AKINLAMI, the Co-Founder and CEO of The Power Parenting ® Company LLC and has since February and has hosted over 2,000 people from United States of America, Europe, Asia and Africa in the 6 meetings, drawn from the primary and secondary parents, policy makers, educationists, government functionaries, Child Safeguarding and Protection Practitioners and others

The fifth edition of the program was held in two sessions. At the children’s session the theme was ‘I Am Young: How Do I Strive In A Digitalized World?’ The theme for the session for the primary and secondary parents was The Children-Of-Nowadays Syndrome: A Myth Or Reality…Exploring the Lost Principles of Protecting/Raising Generations Z&A.

The sixth edition was held on Saturday, July 23^rd, 2022, the topic; The Systems Approach To Securing A Friendly And Protective Environment ® For Children In A Digitalized World, Fundamental Lessons for primary and secondary parent regarding the protection of children in today’s digital world were addressed. The program was also well attended by over 300 participants from different cities across Africa, Europe, and North America.

Introduction

Taiwo Akinlami, the convener of both meetings opened the 5^th edition, focusing on the fact that primary and secondary parents need to understand that children learn from the examples they see. As parents our children learn from us and we as parents refuse to take responsibility for this. Our society today is filled with several vices that make it difficult for children today to strive. Children are faced with so many influences and challenges therefore it is very important for us as parents to commit ourselves towards creating a world fit for our children and empower them to strive and survive effectively in that world created for them.

He noted that there is no such thing as children of nowadays rather there is what is called socialization of nowadays, meaning that the ways we do things today are the examples our children follow closely and actively. If we are to help our children, we need to go back and reexamine ourselves as primary and secondary parents.

He noted at the 6^th edition that the as primary and secondary parents in today’s digitalized world we need to understand that protecting children online is totally different from protecting children in the physical world. That is why there is a need to adopt a systems approach to addressing issues that affects our precious children.

The fifth edition of the Town Hall Meeting had as its panelists for the children’s session Mrs. Yetty William the founder of Lagos Mums and a Parenting Coach, based in the United Kingdom. Mrs. Adefolashade Fadeyi the Designate Founder of Brighter Girls, an Adolescent Coach and a Parent Educator and Mrs. Fumilayo Akinlami the Co-founder of S.A.F.E for Children® Society, a School Consultant, and a HR Expert. The session was moderated by Mr. George Adjete a SRHR Advocate and a UNFPA Youth Representative The session for the primary and secondary parents had as its panelist Dr Kerri Lockhart MD, FAAP, TIPC™ from the United States of America and Mr. Taiwo Akinlami an Ethicist and the Co-founder & C.E. O of the Power Parenting® LLC. The session has been moderated by Mrs. Ayo Ayeni a Maternal Mental Health and Family-Friendly work Practitioner and a member of the Taiwo Akinlami Academy Faculty.

The sixth edition of the Town Hall Meeting was convened by Taiwo Akinlami an Ethicist and the Co-founder & C.E.O of the Power Parenting® LLC while the session was moderated by Mr. Bosun Adedokun the Team Lead Thesis Education Group and Dean PACE Institute and a Member of the Taiwo Akinlami Academy in charge of the distribution of the faculty’s Resource Center, which see to the distribution of Taiwo Akinlami’s works across the globe.

The panelists in both sessions of the Town Hall meeting raised key issues which included the following: 

Children learn from the examples we show them hence we cannot exhibit certain examples to them and expect a different behavior from them.

In our society today we are dealing with children born into the era of digitalization where there are limitless options available hence the need for proper guidance to ensure that children make better choices.

Parenting in today’s digital age can be extremely tough, no matter the age of our children. Technology is progressively becoming part of our everyday lives, and many children today are brought up in an environment surrounded by several digital devices.

When our children act up in a way, we do not approve we must not be quick to dismiss them without taking time to empathetically talk to them and understand what exactly the problem is.

When we continuously carryout actions targeted towards Child Safeguarding and Protection, we create a world safe for our children to strive and excel.

Unusual and several opportunities are available for our children online educationally and otherwise hence the need for us as primary and secondary parents must thrive towards empowering them to strive in the online realm.

Several contents are available online and not all contents are age appropriate for our children and parental control may not always provide adequate protection. That is why the main emphasis should be on empowering our children to be part of their Personal Safety and Self-Protection.

The panelists in proffering solutions noted as follows:

• Primary and secondary parents need to take time to equip their children with the necessary skills and competences to make informed choices and express themselves in the online environment safely and responsibly.
• Primary and secondary parents need to respect their children by giving them a say in the digital environment, with more child-led activities to foster innovative and creative safe digital experiences.
• Measures should be put in place towards protecting children from harmful and illegal online content, conduct, and risks and also improving their well-being through creating a safe and age-appropriate digital environment.
• In a world where children are growing up digital it is important to help them learn healthy concepts of digital use and we must understand that primary and secondary parents play an important role in teaching their children these skills.
• Primary and secondary parents need to shift away from idea of labeling children as children of nowadays as there is nothing wrong with our precious children rather we misunderstand them and keep imposing on them the ideals that were imposed on us while growing up forgetting that the children of this generation are totally different.

Children need to be involved in their protection as this would be the only way it would truly work, there no better time than now to build a relationship with our children as the world today has become volatile place where children are being exposed to countless vices.

We need to understand that enacting rules and regulations is not sufficient towards curtailing any issue. Rather we must adopt a system approach which is a coordinated approach towards addressing issues regarding our children, further this system must be subject to a periodic review as we are in a dynamic world.

Both primary and secondary parents need to invest in both the learning outcome and behavioral outcome of children to ensure their overall growth in all dimensions.

Participants

We had key participation from primary parents and stakeholders in the school system at the meeting and they expressed profound satisfaction and gratitude that these conversations are coming to the front burner also weighing in with their contributions reiterating the need for primary and secondary parents to seek and acquire the appropriate parenting skills and knowledge what would enable them to empower their precious children to strive in the digitalized world of today.

Questions were also answered by the panelists and the convener.

The Town Hall Meeting which has been scheduled to hold every month was started as an offshoot of the No Protection No Childhood Campaign, a movement to inspire us as primary and secondary parents to embrace the SYSTEM’S Approach to Securing a Friendly and Protective Environment® for Children (Child Safeguarding and Protection) in Africa, particularly Nigeria as it is in other developed climes like North America, particularly the United States of America, Asia and Europe. The next edition holds on Saturday, August 27^th, 2022, and the theme of discussion is No Safe Spaces?

An Open Discussion on Cyber Security and Child Safeguarding and Protection: What are the best practices around the world?

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