A few fathers in cowboy garb rode up to Merritt Jr. High on Thursday for a Rodeo Style Workshop that highlighted the role dads can play in education.
Pastor Adoris Turner II, the guest presenter, addressed several subtopics during the noontime encounter.
Turner encouraged the men to show more interest in what their children are attracted to and realize the children may have some interests that may not look exactly like theirs.
Turner said fathers have to engulf themselves in the things that are going on with their sons and daughters, adding that there is sometimes a tendency to be not as attentive with boys. “We can’t dismiss it, because if we dismiss it, we’re going to miss IT,” he said.
He reminded the fathers that children are dealing with issues and concerns that manifest themselves right before their eyes, things that as a parent they can only imagine.
He stressed the importance of reminding the children of the snares and hazards that life sometimes has to offer and that some solutions that may have been effective in the past do not necessarily work in the present day.
Years ago, he said, it was considered an effective strategy to move children to different schools and environments to limit interactions, but in today’s social media induced society, “My son can fall in love with your daughter without him ever knocking on your front door. He can talk to her every day, they can see each other and grow to love each other, face to face, real time, without your house phone ever ringing,” he said.
He concluded his message by sharing the lines of a poem entitled, Test of a Man, by an unknown author, which begins, “The test of a man is the fight that he makes, the grit that he daily shows. The way he stands upon his feet, and takes life’s numerous bumps and blows.”
Organizer Geraldine Ray, school parent liason, said the purpose of the function was to share with the fathers how they can be a positive influence in the lives and educational development of their children.
