First Lady and Minister for Education and Sports Hon Janet Kataaha Museveni has implored parents to be good role models in the lives of their children
In her weekly letter to young people, Minister Kataaha cited a story of young puppies that emulated a disability of their mother just because that’s what they thought was the normal way of doing things. She says children need parents to model to them hard work, victory, not defeat, that they have a good future ahead of them.
Read Hon Janet Kataaha Museveni’s letter:
My children who call me Maama by choice, I have adopted your words of calling each other guys. You guys, I send you my love and greetings for this week of 19th-24th of July. I thought I would, this time, share with you a story I read in a book that I hope will not just be funny but will teach you something about parenting.
The story goes that there was a German shepherd dog that was pregnant. One day she was hit by a car as she walked across the street. Unfortunately, both her back legs were broken, but she was able to pull herself off the street, and back to the home she came from. As weeks went by she slowly recovered.
Her legs healed but because they did not get a doctor to reset them in the normal way, the dog just kept dragging them as she walked. Eventually she delivered her puppies. They were healthy and whole, but as the weeks went by, and these puppies started walking, they started dragging their back legs just like their mother did. The owner of the dog was sorry because he thought that perhaps the puppies had been injured in the accident.
So, this time the owner took the puppies to the veterinary doctor to have them checked. The doctor discovered there was absolutely nothing wrong with the puppies’ hind legs. They were perfectly healthy. The puppies were simply copying their mother. That is what they had seen modeled, therefore, they knew that is how they were supposed to walk.
Therefore, bringing up children and that is a very challenging exercise, what you model for your children, is what they know to be normal. It has been said that, “more is caught than taught” If you smoke in your home, you are modeling smoking for your children that is what they know to be normal and in their time, they may smoke dangerous substances. If you model drinking that is what your children will know to do because that is what they know to be normal.
The good news is just like those puppies, there is nothing wrong with your back legs. Those are simply wrong mind sets you have developed. God did not make you faulty, you are actually a masterpiece! Do not go around teaching your children to drag their back legs, do not model mediocrity as normal to your children.
This is the kind of message I was trying to give to parents when I was releasing the PLE Results. I have repeated many times that education is a shared responsibility especially in this season of COVID-19. Without the participation of parents, the children are at risk.
Therefore, please remember, your children need you to model to them hard work, victory, not defeat, that they have a good future ahead of them. That they must do well at school and finish well. That if they work hard they can become successful in life, anything they have admired at all, they can become. Our children are children of God most High and He does not create accidents, He creates masterpieces.
Janet K. Museveni
First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports