By Anesta Henry
Over 150 fathers of Blackman and Gollop Primary School students reported for “class” at the St David’s, Christ Church institution on Friday.
They were not summoned to a parent-teacher conference or to deal with complaints of any kind.
Rather, they were at school to take part in the event Father figures in our child’s life, when the male role models and guests engaged students in sporting activities, storytelling and giving motivational talks.
With Father’s Day just over a week away, 15 fathers were also saluted and presented with tokens of appreciation for their continuous support of the school.
Principal Petrona Holder told Barbados TODAY that she was pleased with the overwhelming response to the event.
She said the programme started in 2018 and was also hosted in 2019 but was not held for the past three years because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We are really overwhelmed and pleasantly pleased with the turnout of fathers. There are some who wanted to do something during the day, but who unfortunately could not because of the number of people who already indicated that they wanted to do a similar activity.
“We at Blackman and Gollop are pleased that our father figures have responded so overwhelmingly to our invitation. Some fathers would have taken the day off from work; grandfathers and uncles would have also taken time off to be here with us today,” Holder said.
It was further pointed out that the school hosted the event confronted by the reality that there are many children who do not have a father figure in their lives.
The principal said this has influenced an appeal to fathers at the school to be role models for not only their children, but for others who do not have a male figure to talk to or even show them how to play a sport.
“The relationship between a father and child starts from conception, it takes two to conceive and the creation is such that we need to have the balance of the male and the balance of the female in our lives.
“And you need to have that person who can inspire and encourage you, discipline you, let you know that it is okay to cry, it is okay to lose, it is okay to be hurt, but yet provide you with the comfort that there is someone there when you are hurting and someone there to come to talk to,” she said.
Holder added: “When you fail, there is someone here to encourage you to push on deeper, firmer, and stronger and taste success, however small. So we can’t divorce having a father figure in the life of a child whether it is their paternal father or some person who plays that role.”
Acting Superintendent Roland Cobbler, who was one of the fathers honoured, told Barbados TODAY, that it was essential for the youth to have good male role models in their lives.
He said he was pleased that the school was creating the opportunity for fathers to contribute to the positive development of children.
“Based on the reception that I have seen from the children having their fathers here, participating in these positive activities with them, all the activities that help build that bond, it will create the environment where children would understand that being engaged in positive activities is another alternative to delinquent behaviour,” Cobbler said.
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