Greetings to the Somerville Family
It is indeed a pleasure and privilege to address the children and parents of our
schools. Children are a gift from God. They are individuals and not the property
of their parents. Children brought up in the same family, under the same conditions
may show different traits, attitudes and habits. Our duty as parents is to bring
them up the right way, by being their role models.
All children crave for is the love, care and attention of their parents. When they
do not get this at home, they seek it elsewhere and get into undesirable company,
which may cause lifelong heartaches for them and their parents.
Spending quality time with children is very important. Wealth does not make a child
happy. Your child wants your time and not your gifts or the expensive toys you may
give him. I have seen gloomy children sitting in costly cars, while children from
slums are playing happily with toys they have made for themselves. It is understood
that times are such that both parents have to work to earn a decent living. However,
this great wish to be good providers and earn more and more leads to homes and families
being neglected. Little do such parents realise that what children value and desire
the most is the time their parents spend with them. When you get back from work,
devote some time to your children even while you are attempting to complete your
household chores.
Disciplining a child is one of the most difficult tasks for parents and often unpleasant
for children. Yet it has to be done with a firm hand and a loving heart. Some parents
feel that their children will love them more if they give them whatever they ask
for. This is the most imprudent notion. If you look around you will find that a
well disciplined child loves his or her parents much more than a pampered child.
If I may quote from the Holy Bible it says in Proverbs Chapter 29-Vs 15 that “To
discipline a child produces wisdom, but a mother is disgraced by an undisciplined
child.” Parents must consider the benefit of due correction, and the consequence
of undue indulgence.
Children are our most precious gifts from the Lord, and it is our duty to raise
them as kind, honest and hardworking individuals not as potential money-earning
machines, without any good values in life and the belief that acquiring worldly
possessions is the ultimate goal of their lives.
My message to all our children is: obey your parents; love and respect them. Do
not let peer pressure take you into dark streets which eventually end up in ruining
your life and cause immense sorrow and humiliation for your loving parents. Always
remember, there is no short cut to success. Our jails are full of people who took
short cuts to success. Give the first place in your life to God, and then everything
will automatically fall into the right place.
May God bless each child and each parent and may He guide them and be with them
that they might become examples for the community.
MR. THOMAS T ROY
Superintendent and Secretary/Treasurer
Lott Carey Baptist Mission in India