Parents warned at Guaico grad: Monitor your child's online use

Guaico Presbyterian Primary School principal Indira Rambaran-Mohammed presents valedictorian Traveer Pattron with an award at the school on Wednesday. PHOTO BY ROGER JACOB -
Guaico Presbyterian Primary School principal Indira Rambaran-Mohammed presents valedictorian Traveer Pattron with an award at the school on Wednesday. PHOTO BY ROGER JACOB -

WITH an increased use of digital devices by children as schooling has to be done at home due to the pandemic, parents have been urged to pay closer attention to their children’s online activity.

The warning came from principal of the Guaico Presbyterian Primary School Indira Rambaran-Mohammed during her address at the school's virtual graduation ceremony of Standard Five students on Tuesday.

“We live in a world of technology, but no technological device can provide or replace the love, care and counselling that your parents can give,” Rambaran-Mohammed said as she explained the importance of parents checking their children's digital devices.

She said it was unacceptable for young children to have password-protected devices.

While some children may not like it, she said, parents must constantly check their children’s digital devices to ensure that they are not exposed to predators who use online social media platforms to exploit people and to also groom the youth for the illicit sex trade.

Tuesday’s online graduation was held for the school’s 93 students who sat the Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) exam in August. SEA results are expected to be released on Thursday.

Feature speaker at the graduation journalist and radio talk show host Dale Enoch echoed Rambaran-Mohammed’s advice, saying, "There will be a time to let go (of your children and give them freedom), but now is not that time.” As a journalist, Enoch said he has often come across stories of children being led astray, sometimes with disastrous consequences, because of a lack of proper parenting.

Because of this, he urged parents not to give up. “Parenting is hard, and it seems to be getting increasingly difficult. The distractions and forces that you (parents) must fight to preserve your children make raising a child quite a task.

“Don’t leave your children alone for too long. You run the risk of losing parts of them which are critical to their well-being and development,” said Enoch.

In his valedictory address, Traveer Pattron expressed pride that the graduating students were able to overcome all challenges and write the SEA exam despite covid19.

As he recalled his experiences at the school, Pattron expressed disappointment at the way the covid19 pandemic disrupted his final months of primary school life. "It was unfortunate this pandemic robbed us of many experiences in our last  year," Pattron said.

Pattron was given three special awards recognising his performance in mathematics, draughts and the school's healthy lifestyle quiz. Winner of the Principal's Award Anuradha Singh also walked away with other awards for her performance in the school's spelling bee competition, language arts, the Red Cross club and the annual history festival.

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