Beach Allen Primary School bring fathers together at a special meeting

ZIZ News…June 14 2012 — As part of its 20th anniversary the Beach Allen Primary School made a special effort to reach the dads of the students attending the school.

This extra effort was made by having a meeting for fathers only on Wednesday 13th June at the school’s ground which was came out of a suggestion made at another PTA meeting and the target date was just before father’s day so that the fathers can feel special and loved.

Partnership on the idea was forged with the Department of Gender Affairs and Officer Mrs. Jacqueline Christopher was able to secure the services of Mr. Ray John as the guest speaker.

According to the Principal Emileta Warner Paul the session was highly interactive as Mr John used his personal and other experiences as a young man to get his message across. He began by stating the position men was once viewed in society – right after god in the family hierarchy followed by his spouse then his children then the cats and dogs etc. He went on to explain that in these times men are expected to function the same way even though the world has change and continues to change, where we now see women in almost the same jobs and careers as men did back then. John further pointed out that men would react to what is observed through the eyes, hence perception and reality would not necessary walk hand in hand. In essence, he declared that men must now come to terms with these changes and get in-line or will definitely find themselves falling further behind while the women continue to make strides with the change.

Mr. John concluded his presentation citing three qualities men or fathers must portray (1) Responsibility – he stated that men must take their god given responsibility seriously – be it their lives, their jobs , their families. (2) Purpose – he admonished the men to walk the face of this earth with a sense of purpose. He went on to emphasize the question to ponder ” Why am I here?” He thus encouraged the men to seek their purpose and pursue it. (3) Commitment – Mr. John advised the men to be committed to the end. He urged them to follow through with their responsibilities no matter the circumstances, citing examples such as difficulties with spouses, or mothers of their children or even in the work place. He further encouraged them to commit to a relationship with god as such is the only way one can find that inner strength to endure.

The fathers applauded the exercise and they also commented that the coming together be done because it is fathers’ day but should be done on a more regular basis. The forming of an alliance of the fathers of Beach Allen Primary was also suggested by the fathers.

The principal, staff and students of the Beach Allen Primary wish to thank Mr Ray John and the Department of Gender Affairs and the fathers for making this inaugural fathers’ meeting a success.