Parents told to take lead role at home

 PARENTS have been challenged to lead by example in respecting and preserving the environment that they live in.

It came from the Archbishop of Port Moresby, Diocese John Ribat, during the St Anne’s Elementary School feast day celebration last Friday.

He said that when reflecting on the Catholic Church’s calendar marking this year as the year of the family and respect for the environment.

“Respect the environment we have for our families. If we say that respect the environment for our families what do we mean?” he asked.

“By environment we mean our houses, places where we live. What is there that we find in our houses – families.”

Ribat said the habit of chewing betel nut and spitting it everywhere was not promoting the value of having a good home, town or city.

He said the value of respect for the environment could be brought right down to the level of families which began with parents. 

“It’s very important that we are aware of this and see where our responsibility is to promote respect and preserve our environment for our families. 

“We look at the areas of our families, we look at boundaries and we try to encourage parents to promote respect for all within the families.”

He said children were the joy of families and for the ones at St Anne’s Elementary School who were taught the skills to speak in public, sing, act and dance among others were encouraging their parents to bring them up to be good citizens.