There is a need for young people to seek guidance and counselling from spiritual leaders or professional counselors whenever they are depressed to avoid resorting to drastic actions like suicide.
Fr. Joseph Patu of St. Peter’s Catholic in Narok North Sub County says what has been witnessed in the country in the recent past shows that a lot of youth are depressed but have no one to share their problems with and the only solution they think of is committing suicide or killing other people.
Fr. Patu spoke in the church premises Monday where he called on youth to respect their parents and open up to them whenever they are facing challenges in a bid to get solutions.
“I ask the youth to respect their parents especially when on holiday and even after completing school. Obeying parents is the first key to success,” he said, adding that most crimes committed by young people could be avoided if they remained obedient to their parents and elders.
The clergy asked the church to initiate programmes aimed at educating young people on matters of life and how to overcome daily challenges saying most of them lack proper guidance at their tender age.
Narok pastors’ fellowship chairman Pastor Peter Nakola asked parents to spend quality time with their children to get to understand the challenges they were facing in life and help to resolve them amicably.
He called on parents not shy to discuss with their children pertinent issues of life so that their children too can open up to them and get the necessary assistance.
The church leader also challenged parents to take time to pray for their children and where possible hold family prayers to help the children grow up in a Godly manner.
“Parenting is a special role that God has given us as parents. We should do it with a lot of passion by guiding our children so that they can grow up to be responsible citizens,” said Pastor Nakola.
Another spiritual leader, Pastor Francis Kipai of Full Gospel Churches of Kenya asked the society to be responsible and get concerned whenever they suspect weird behavior among the youth in their midst.
“Children should not be left alone to do what they want just because their parents are not around. The responsibility of taking care of children should be communal such that every person should be concerned when one child goes wrong,” said Pastor Kipai.
When we are all concerned about our children it will minimize cases of teenage pregnancies and early marriages that are common in Narok County as well as help fighting retrogressive culture like Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).
Their sentiments come at a time when two young men have come out in the open to expose how they killed innocent children and dumped them in unsuspecting places.
Also, the recent incident of a police officer Caroline Kangogo who killed two people before shooting herself has left many Kenyans with more questions than answers on the direction the society is taking.
By Ann Salaton
