A cleric, Rev. Ifeanyi Okonkwo, has advised fathers to `discipline’ their children with love in order to promote closer family ties.
Okonkwo gave the advice on Sunday while delivering a homily at a Fathers’ Day Service, held at the Anglican Church of Ascension, Achara Layout, Enugu.
The homily was titled: “How to Become an Effective Father. “
The cleric noted that most fathers had scattered their homes through cruelty in every action they display in their homes, adding that fathers are losing out in the household politics.
“Today, in most homes even where the father is providing virtually everything, they are still seen by their children as inapproachable and highly rigid.
“Again, the children confide more in their mothers that listen to them; thus fathers are largely isolated and left out of affairs and sharing fond in the home.
“It had made most fathers to stand alone in their homes.
“Fathers should start cultivating closeness to the children by applying discipline with love, while making sure that a child clearly understood why he or she is being scolded.
“The present day child is no longer attuned to the authoritarian stand of some fathers, especially when they want to assert their authority as a man without any cause for it,“ he said.
The cleric, however, urged fathers to spend excellent time with their families, instead of hanging out in joints with friends and peers.
“Fathers should return home and strive to understand their homes as well as the individual differences in their children, which makes them unique from one another in terms of characters and view-points. “
Chief Temple Ude, the Leader of Fathers in the church, said that fathers’ fellowship in the church was meant for spiritual uplift and interaction among fathers, which involves sharing experiences. (NAN)