Parents, teachers too busy to identify disorders in children

Most parents and teachers seem to be too busy and distracted to identify psychological disorders in their children. This negligence is partly responsible for the alarming rate of moral decadence in the country at present. The FCT Deputy Director of Secondary Education Board, Margaret Mowete, made the observation at a workshop for teachers in the […]

Most parents and teachers seem to be too busy and distracted to identify psychological disorders in their children. This negligence is partly responsible for the alarming rate of moral decadence in the country at present.

The FCT Deputy Director of Secondary Education Board, Margaret Mowete, made the observation at a workshop for teachers in the FCT organised by an NGO, Reconnect, and Raberto Schools, Abuja.

The workshop which theme was: ‘Identification and Management of Childhood Behavioural and Psychological Disorders’ is aimed at training teachers to pick up such disorders as they interact with children in their schools so as to seek necessary solution.

Mowete laid some blames on parents who are too busy pursuing wealth to identify these abnormal behaviours in their children.

Mowete said, “The problems we have with children starts with the parents, because they are negligent of their own responsibility; they don’t care for their children, and in the bid to pursue wealth, they neglect their children. So you find these children joining bad gangs, cultism, so many sexual problems, disorders, and all such.”

Signs to look out for:

Is the child always copying notes and frequently trying to catch up on homework? This will indicate the child might not be in school when their mates were.

Mowete urged parents to take a trip to the school to find out why their child or ward is busy all day copying notes; sometimes the child might be absent from class on their visit.

Keep track of the child 

She advised parents to know all activities their wards are involved in; especially which kind of friends they hang out with, what social media platform they surf; in short, everything the children do.  

 Watch out for any change in behaviour

 If you previously had a bubbling child and suddenly he/she is withdrawn, then there is a problem. Try to get the child to reveal the reason behind the change in character. It is either the child is being bullied, molested or is undergoing something abnormal.

The Director of Raberto School and of Ports Bridge Educational Services, Dr. Stella Adagiri, said the training was for capacity building, offer opportunities to educators regarding key current issues that were relevant to them in relation to the wellbeing of children in their care. 

Adagiri noted that most educators were not well informed about these psychological disorders, saying, “There has been a lot of research about children’s psychological disorders and issues and lot of people tend to interpret them in different ways.

“We realise that there is actually lack of enough knowledge and understanding, and as educators, it is very paramount for us to be on top of these issues because we deal with children.

“Also, there is the parental aspect of it. On our part, we are playing the part of educators to give ourselves the knowledge and understanding that we require to be able to handle these issues,”n she said.

What negligence breeds

Adagiri said behavioral disorder was what played out in our larger society, saying, “There are many factors that lead to this and they are from childhood. If they can be nipped in the bud when the child is at the early years of development, then you will be able to help that child better, but if a child is abused (emotional, social or physical) at home, based on neglect, he/she will definitely grow up to be a grumpy, angry child with some mental health issues.

“If you find out that people are getting involved in drugs, it does not just happen; it is based on different issues that might have happened in their childhood.”

“For example, we have had children that had been abused sexually either by drivers or security guards and the parents were not even aware. You find out that as they grow older it has impact on their confidence and the way they behave because it reduces their self-esteem. 

“So it is important for educators to beam their search light to point out and know when these thing are existing and help them out,” she advised.

Signs educator must look out for when dealing with kids.

“Basically, one of the things we look out for is the child’s attitude and behaviour. If he/she talks a lot, is open or withdrawn. If you notice that a child is becoming withdrawn, that is a pointer. You need to find out if the child is being abused at home. So as an educator you need to observe the child, see how their countenance is when they come to school, are they happy, how they react when they are with other children, do they throw tantrums, and do they get angry? She rhetorically concluded.