Parents, your role is Powerful!

Voices from the Streets Part 17- The Influence of Parents!

By Nixon Dickenson

Decarlo Williams left and Voices from the Streets Writer Nixon Dickenson share a light moment with Williams’ pet goat Sarah

In this week’s article in the series Voices from the Streets, I would like to share an inspirational conversation that I had with Decarlo Williams.

This conversation was geared towards the influence of parents on the actions of their children.  From Decarlo’s perspective, the power of parenting can either influence children to become positive members of their society or a disruption to society. We hear this conversation daily from different corners, every time our country is rocked by another senseless murder. 

Decarlo believes if all parents can realize that they have a powerful role to play in raising children who have values, morals and discipline, society will be better.  He shared that unfortunately, some parents are struggling due to a lack of maturity and support from their respective communities. 

Voices from the Streets writer Nixon Dickenson and goat herder Decarlo Williams are captured in Williams’ goat pen

The number of teenage parents in our society speaks to many of the issues that we are currently facing; one being the lack of parental support which contributes to many of the social ills.  Decarlo shared that although he came from humble beginnings, he understood the impact of parental involvement on his life and when his parents needed additional support in raising him, the community stepped in. 

The reality of the need for parents to take a greater stance in the upbringing of their children continues to play out in the fabric of our society.  As I spoke with Decarlo, I could not help but observe the herd of goats around him. There was one goat in particular that he seemed very fond of. I noticed that this goat followed him around as he moved about caring for the others. 

When I asked him about this interaction he shared that this particular goat was his pet named Sarah. He brought this illustration into the context of our present conversation.  In the eyes of his pet goat Sarah, he was the parent.

 Despite not understanding as a human being as this was an animal, Sarah depended on him for love and support and followed him wherever he went. His cared for Sarah and the attention that he gave to her, influenced her behaviour. 

Decarlo posed the question that, if people can train animals into obedience, shouldn’t parents be able to influence the behaviour of their children? If parents cannot influence their children to make positive choices and engage in positive behaviour, herein lies the root cause of the problems that are currently overshadowing our country. 

The purpose of sharing Decarlo’s views is to remind parents of their influence in the lives of their children be it good or bad.  If every parent makes the effort to be mindful of the impact that they are having on their child/children, it is possible that we can see a reduction in prevalent social ills.  Indeed, our children were created with a wonderful mind that can be trained with the right influence.