Challenges of Parenting Responsibility and the Competing Priorities

Abstract

The current parenting challenges in Kenya make uncertain the future of young people, the family, the church and the stability of our society. The loud outcry for social harmony, integrity justice and peace has been drowned out by corruption and pursuit for wealth and personal happiness, which has also led to high unemployment rates, poverty, drug cartels, and growing and uncontrolled hunger for wealth and uncontrolled desire for pleasure among other competing priorities. These societal ills pose a significant threat to parenting responsibility. Kenyan parents also seem to lack awareness that parenting responsibility is their primary responsibility, irreplaceable and non-transferable, which requires minimal delegation because nothing can replace it. Some coaching will be necessary for parents to paint a picture the type of future they desire for their children; what strategies they need to put in place today in preparation for that future. Parents need to become aware of what they are doing well and what they need to do differently. Awareness of the obstacles of their vision actualization will help them think of the options there is to counteract the obstacles and identify appropriate support system they need to put in place to assist them in the journey towards their vision realization. Raising awareness of what parental availability and presence or absence in the family mean to their children and the whole society is necessary. A clear vision and well reflected goals will assist them in managing family priorities and other priorities, help them develop a plan of action, create an accountability plan. Nevertheless, parenting is a collective societal responsibility. The society too enjoys both its success and shares the consequences of its failures as well. The ideas shared in this paper come from personal experience and reflection and what I have read in the literature.

Key Words: Parenting, Demands, Responsibility, Priorities, Challenges