Media and marketing communications expert and CEO of Dentsu Ghana, Andrew Ackah has shared that parenting has helped him develop his own standard of parenting rather than imitating his parents’ style.
He noted that very often parents are tempted to mirror how they were raised up by their own parents which does not always help the children.
Speaking to YFM’s Akosua Hanson on the Y Leaderboard Series, he shared: “Raising them is making me understand some of the flaws of parenting when I was growing up and you know you grow to do exactly what you went through.
Now they are teaching me to know that when I am angry and all that I know that this [anger] is because of that [parenting style] but I need to change. While I am changing, I still need to be strict. Be disciplined and let them go through the path and not give them an easy way out. But learning how to parent now by your own standard is what I think they are making me learn and I am going through that now. It is less shouting and more conversation And you feel they are getting better all the time. So you learn to be patient with them”.
He advised parents never to shun their kids when it comes to having a conversation on sensitive issues such as relationships and that will build their children’s confidence in them. “Let them talk about what they are going through. Whether it is a relationship issue or other issues. When I was nine years, I had relationship issues. So open it up and let them be frank and open with you rather than chastising them”
Andrews shared that he has four children; two girls and two boys with the eldest being twelve years old and the youngest being four.
By: Alberta Dorcas N D Armah