Speech Title : What Does It Take To Be A Good Parent.

Thank you to the Master of Ceremony for this opportunity given to me to deliver a speech on a
topic about what does it take to be a good parent .
Assalamualaikum and a warm welcome to everyone. First and foremost, I would like to
thank our very special guest, Datuk Rohani Abdul Karim, the Honorable Minister of Women
and Family Development of Malaysia for being here. Thank you Datuk Rohani for joining us
today on our open day which is the 10th anniversary of Brainy Montessori establishment. Its
been a big pleasure to have Datuk Rohani on our big day for today. Id also like to thank all
parents and also to everyone whod make it today to fill up this hall. Once again, welcome and
thank you for joining us today.
Ladies and gentleman,
It will be nice if I introduce myself first. I am Puan.the founder of Brainy Montessori
. Its been 10 year since the establishment of our Brainy Montessori. Together we faced a period
of up and down that come in our way in surviving many conflicts until today. Today, we
celebrate the 10
th
years of Brainy Montessori establishment and I want to give credit for
everyone for their effort to ensure that Brainy Montessori growing each day to serve the
community better.
On this hilarious day, I will deliver a speech on a topic that has been discussed by all over
and over again entitled what does it take to be a good parent . As we know a childs early
education begins at home. So parenting styles and quality plays a very important role in shaping
a childs personality. Parenting styles and quality consist of many criteria that a mother and a
father should possessed to be called a good parent.
Ladies and gentleman,
What does it take to be a good parent? Is a good parent someone who gives their child
the best of everything? A good education, at a good school? Expensive sneakers, and name
brand clothing? Is a good parent someone who has time to attend every recital, basketball game,
and debate match? Or is there any other criteria that makes parent a good parent ?
Bruno Bettelheim said that you cant teach children to be good. The best you can do for
your child is to live a good life yourself. What a parents knows and believes, child will lean on.
That means child personality development influence by how good you live your life. Either as a
good parent or a bad parent. Hence, a good parent lead by example.
However, the definition of a good parent varies from person to person, and sometimes
we are considered a good or bad parent only when our children are grown. People will
evaluate our role as a parent either we are a good parent or a bad parent by looking on our
grown child. If our grown child success in their life and have very good attitude, we are labelled
as a good parent but if thing goes vice versa we will be called a bad parent, because basically a
grown child represent their parent action and behavior. So, what really does it takes to makes us
a good parent?
Ladies and gentleman,
Let us take a moment and ask ourself. Am I a good parent? Have I being a good parent
to my children ? There are many different things that we should take into consideration when it
comes to parenting. There are many ways for us to determine either we are a good parent or a
bad parent. But, there are eight criteria in particular that I think are very important. First of all let
us take a long breath and ready for what to come.
Ladies and gentleman,
The first criteria that I think is very important is being a good example for your child.
Parents are examples for their child whether they like it or not. Children are very likely to
imitate what they see. So they are most influenced by their parents, both thinking and behavior.
Child learn habits from their parents, they learn how to socialize and they learn what is good and
what is bad. For example, kids saw their parent helping other people or picking a rubbish on the
street. As a result the kids will become what they saw. They will have a kind heart by always
helping others and protecting our environment from rubbish. So bad behaviors of parents lead to
bad results on their children and vice versa. Children a like sponges. They saw, they imitate,
they practice and it become part of their behavior or personality. Action of parent that they saw
oftenly are likely to be their behavior building guidance. So, advice for parents, be sure to show
a good attitude or behavior to your children because they are like sponge, they absorb what they
saw. Otherwise they will build a bad personality.
If parents often argue with each other, children may lose their belief in family and life. It
also creates feelings of insecurity and fear when they hear their parents fighting each other. In
addition, children will learn to argue with each other the same way their parents do. So a good
parent must behave in order for his kids to do the same. We cannot expect our child to say its
black when we teach them that it is white. Every action we take will have the same
consequences. Bad input will produce bad output.
Secondly, I think that one of the most critical aspect a good parent can do for their child
is to take them seriously and listen to them. Children will constantly showing their parent
everything that they learns and its very easy for us to ignore them out sometimes, but I think its
very important not to. Actually it is their way to have our attention and appreciation to motivate
themselves to explore new things and surprised us with new information. It is important to listen
because if you dont give your child enough attention they might try and seek it in a negative
way. For example, asking their friend or surfing on internet which are very risky if they got the
wrong information. Besides, our child curiosity must be handled in an systematic way or in an
orderly way to ensure it does not lead to negative behavior or negative action. It is important to
listen to your children when they have learned something new or want to tell you something that
they are proud of. Children seek your approval, and that gives them confidence. So, be
responsible and let them do it on their own way but with our guidance.
Ladies and gentleman,
The third criteria would be discipline. Discipline is another very important aspect that
should be monitor by a parent to be a good parent. The best thing to do is to use a right approach
wisely, because if you are constantly saying no your child will tune it out. As a good parent
we must always give encouragement to our children. Every no we give to our children must
be followed by a reasonable answer and reason so that they will continue to seek for the best.
You also have to be consistent. For example, you cant let your child eat candy before dinner one
night and then tell them not to the next night, you will be sending them mixed signals. A good
parent always give their child explanation to whatever they did wrong. By doing that, our child
will know what is good and what is bad so that they can avoid doing the same mistakes.
Furthermore, children are still fresh an need many encouragement and advice from their parent.
The fourth criteria of a good parent is having a good attitude. I believe that a reasonable
attitude makes a child feel pleasant and respect the teaching of his parent. Be rational and
reasonable all the time to our child. The best we can do as a good parent when a child acts in a
harmful manner, a good parent tells him that such behavior is unacceptable, suggest alternatives,
explains this to him and avoids statements such as You were bad. Advised must be given after
we scolded them. Mixed action make child unaware of their mistake, parents should explain
nicely to help them have a better look at themselves. Never do hitting to express how mad are
we on that time. Instead, avoid hitting, if possible just touch them gently and give them an
advised. Is it necessary to beat our children hard when they spilled milk on your shoes ? Or when
they fail to spell a word ? Does you act rationaly? As a good parent, all of this should be taken
into consideration before taking any action. So the reasonable attitude helps parents educate their
kids more efficiently and it is surely a criteria of a good parent.
Ladies and Gentleman,
Let us move to the next important criteria. Any good parent should be able to give their
child a sense of being loved. A gentle cuddle, a little encouragement, appreciation, approval or
even a smile can go a long way to boost the confidence and well-being of your children. Respect
their privacy as you would want them to respect yours; for example, if you teach your child that
your room is out of boundaries to them, respect the same with their room. Allow them to feel that
once they enter their room they can know that no one will look through their drawers, or read
their diary. Other way to give them a sense of being love are by giving them an attention,
spending time together and always tell your child that you love them and will do everything to
keep them safe and they get the best on their life.
Other than discipline and criteria that I gave earlier, this criteria also determine whether
you are a good or bad parent. Parents should always show their love for their child. Nowadays,
its not a question whether parent love their child or not because anyone and everyone can say
they love their children. But what really makes difference are how they showing their love
because there are a saying that said action speak louder than words. A good parent must show
their love not only by words but through action. We do not always have to buy things to show it;
there are also other options. One way a parent can show his or her love for a child is by doing
one of the childs least favorite chores one day out of the week. On Fridays, if our child did well
in school, her father would mop the kitchen for her. She hated mopping the kitchen, but because
she did great in school, she did not have to. This was a way of showing her that her father loved
and cared about her. It also motivated her to do well in school. Parents should also tell their kids
that the love them. It take out a little sacrifice on time and energy but dont worry. It worth
compare to the consequences shown by our child.
Ladies and gentleman,
Being a good parent is not enough just by providing children's material needs, namely a
home, food, clothes, and so forth. But fulfilling their mental or psycology needs are more
important. A good parents should actively promote child's physical and mental development.
This include disciplining the child, habituating the child to physical exercises and studying,
providing the child with as best education as possible, and edifying or advising the child on any
problem he or she encounters during life. This will ensure our children ready to faced the next
challenge on their life. Most of these activities implies spending a lot of time with children,
which is in many cases problematic as adults usually have a lot of things to do in their lives even
with no parenting taken into account. But good parents should always procure opportunities to
spend with their children as much time as possible.
The last criteria that good parents should have is giving protection to their child. A good
parents should protect their children. It may imply protection of child's health, that is they should
try to prevent the child from getting ill and take care of the child if he or she however got ill.
Parents should also protect their children from any dangers both internal and external. An
example of an internal danger may be a possibility of getting hooked on cigarettes, alcohol, or
drugs. An external danger may be any ill intention from any other people, like bullies at
school. How parent can ensure their children will not going through this ? Firstly, parent must be
aware of their children friend attitude, hobby and background. A good parent must be selective
and are able to put barrier on their children and friend time to socialize. Intervention from
parent is a must. This is very important to make sure they did not involve with bad activities. For
example, our child is a friend of a smoker and alcoholic. We must intervene, tell him or her to
choose other friend and never involve with that type of person again. Secondly, parent must have
collaboration with his or her child school management. If possible, every parent must know
every detail on how are they doing at school? is there any problem ? How is your friend or your
teacher ? Are they being good or very strict and not acting like how they supposed to be? All of
this detail are very important for parent to ensure their child are getting the right lesson and
environment at school.
Ladies and gentleman,
Let me conclude my speech for today. As a conclusion, parenting involve lot of work,
and i can guarantee it for you that its not easy. There are many responsibilities. Only a good
parent and I mean a really good parent can withstand this demand to the end. Every child is
unique, and needs to be handled and addressed differently. You always have to be a role model
for your children. You also need to listen to them as well as discipline them appropriately. To
successfully raise your children it takes a lot of love and a lot of effort. Dealing with children
need a lot of sacrifice either in form of money, time or energy. This demand to raise our child
must be carried out with a good attitude and sincerity because through good attitude and
sincerity, our effort to give our child the best will be paid by God in term of a very good
personality of a grown child of our own that follow what we are hoping for them to be.
Ladies and gentleman,
Raising children is one of the most difficult and rewarding jobs in the world. With a little
patience and acceptance of assistance, a person may become a good parent. Not all parents are
good parents. Some may think that just because a child gets everything he or she wants; the
parent is a good mother or father. Being a good parent requires expressing love and affection,
spending time with children, and being a good role model. Good parenting is not the easiest
responsibilities, but it is rewarding after a child has grown up.
So, ladies and gentleman,
Do we have the criteria it take to be a good parent? What do we lack in qualities to be a
good parent and what must we do to fill up this gap of criteria to be a good parent ? Once again,
ladies and gentleman, let us take a deep breath and start telling ourself to do what are necessary
to be a good parent and say to yourself, I can be a good parent .
Thank You.
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