We quote the Bible in Proverbs 22: 6 which says start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.
Thus we hail the Government’s call on teachers and parents to inculcate good morals in children for the development of the country.
We feel the clarion call is long overdue especially with the threat of junk entertainment like misuse of the Internet, bad movies and literature all which corrupt the morals of children.
With these threats, Information and Broadcasting Services Minister Chishimba Kambwili is right in acutely observing that it is cardinal to inculcate good morals in pupils to have a better nation.
In a speech read for him by Wusakile area councillor Davis Simunyola during Wusakile Secondary School ground-breaking and awards giving ceremony in Kitwe yesterday, Mr Kambwili emphasised the need to nurture children for a better future.
Nurturing children is a societal obligation since they constitute an endangered category of people considering that an estimated 25 per cent of the world’s population is made up of people between the ages of 10-24, most of whom live in the developing world, according to a World Health Organisation study from 2007.
As a result, they  face serious  challenges associated with growing up. In sub-Saharan Africa, the combination of poverty and conflict further compounds the situation.
Some of the most central problems facing young people relate to sexuality and reproduction which sometimes exposes them to unprotected sex which is associated with risks such as HIV/AIDS, pregnancy, unsafe abortion, economic hardship and dropping out of school.
According to Unicef’s Progress for Children report from 2008, more than half of the mothers in sub-Saharan Africa give birth before the age of 20, compared with one third for Latin America and the Caribbean.
The range of unplanned pregnancies among adolescent girls ranges from high to very high in some sub Saharan countries where up to 50 per cent of adolescent mothers reported that their pregnancies were unplanned.
The problem is only slightly different for their male counterparts who are also exposed to vices like drug abuse, criminal activities and other trappings related with growing up.
With this looming threat, we would like all concerned parties to heed Mr Kambwili’s call and put it in practise to ensure we are nurturing a well-educated and well-behaved generation that will take up the leadership role in future.
The Bembas say imiti ikula empanga-it is the growing trees that ultimately make a forest – an allusion we can make to children of today who will tomorrow be adults and take up the responsibilities to develop the nation.
As adults we should bear in mind that our culturally-lost children are torn between a dying African culture and the pervasive western culture whose norms they are indiscriminately embracing without measuring it against our rich values and Christian beliefs.
It is then our duty to ensure they are brought up properly so that they take up the mantle of being responsible citizens who will be productive to society.
There is need therefore to combine several parenting methodologies using both Christianity and tradition to achieve this mammoth task.
As the saying in Latin goes, sunt pueri pueri, pueri puerilia tractant  meaning since children are young they do childish things.
It is this helplessness that calls for parental intervention to inculcate good morals in them.