35% of parents who participated in a survey conducted by «Emirates Today» via the social networking site «Twitter» that bad companions were the cause of their teenage children in problems that negatively affected their lives and mental state.
Protecting adolescents from hurting themselves and hurting others, especially bad companions, is not the easy task at a time when the teenager spends most of his or her time away from home, both in the real world, while in school, in malls, in entertainment venues, or in the virtual world. Pages of conversations across various social networking sites, and gaming sites.
Emirates Al-Youm conducted a survey on parents' views about their teenage children's risk of mixing with bad companions, in conjunction with the results of the implementation of the Al-Sahib Sahib program implemented by the Ministry of Community Development to raise awareness of adolescents. Year of its application.
About 35% of the 290 parents involved in the study said that their teenage children had psychological or moral problems because they were close to bad conduct, habits and ideas, while 19% said they did not know if their children had the same experience , While 46% of them confirmed that their children were not exposed to any kind of problems as a result of their mixing with other people.
86% of respondents said they depended on their embrace, proximity and treatment as friends rather than fathers, while 8% admitted not knowing the ways and means to protect their children from bad companions. , While 6% considered that the best solution was not to let them out with friends and contact strangers outside the house.
One of the mothers said that the owner can pull the owner to another world, different from the environment and ideas of the house in which he lives, stressing that continuing parents with the teenager and building a strong relationship with him since a young age help a large proportion not affected by the misconceptions transmitted by bad comrades .
The teenager, when certified by the parents, feels safe, tells them voluntarily about anything that happens in his life and encounters him outside the home, and is keen to seek advice from them and take their opinion.
"Parents should not be surprised by what teenagers say to them, however strange or contrary to good ideas and habits, they should listen to them with passion, interest, acceptance and guidance in a friendly and calm manner, because reprimands and violent reactions will eventually Ideas and details of their relationships outside the home ».
One parent said that "friendship with the adolescent and dealing with him as a mature man, a successful method, avoids falling into many problems, but that method should not disappear parental authority which must be exercised clearly and decisively when the teenager insists on approaching any kind of danger Or damage.
The director of the Department of Social Protection at the Ministry of Community Development, Iman Hareb, told Al-Arab Al-Youm that "Al-Sahib Sahib" program teaches teenagers about the consequences of extremism and the negative effects of listening to strangers and misguided people. Can lead to harming themselves and their community.
They also draw attention to media content that highlights the negative impact of bad companions on children.
The program targets children in the age group 14-16 years, promotes the concept of positive friendship among the target, and educates them about the dangers of bad companions, and urges them to earn a good companion. It also aims to raise awareness among the target group in ways of preventing destructive and misleading ideas, Social development.
Hareb said that the activities of "Al Sahib Sahib" implemented in 2018 targeted students from sports and cultural clubs with the participation of parents and volunteers as part of a plan of the ministry aimed at expanding the beneficiaries of the program nationwide, stressing the importance of cooperation with the various relevant parties to implement the program and achieve Objectives.
She pointed to a previous study by the ministry to measure the impact of the program in students and adolescents, revealed that the degree of awareness of the target groups was 42%, confirming the change within one year from the application of the program to 85%.
3 axes for awareness
The program of "Al Sahib Sahib", implemented by the Ministry of Community Development, focused on three axes:
- "I and my friend", which plays the role of friend and its importance in human life, explains how to choose the most appropriate friend, the influence of friend in his friend, and how friends meet on the love of home and loyalty to him.
- "My friend does not listen to strangers", which sheds light on the influence of the delinquents in the formation of ideas and the minds of young people, the methods used by the instigators to beat the victim, the methods of caution and prevention and listening to strangers and the consequences of listening to the infamous.
- «See yourself», and focuses on pride in gender and identity, and the influence of friend bad in changing the natural nature of man in terms of sex, whether male or female.