Inspirational speaker Francis Kong talks about family values and parenting in a forum in Saint Theresa’s College auditorium. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)
Businessman, family man Francis Kong shares parenting tips to parents, teachers
“Allow your children to experience failure.”
This was one of the parenting tips that inspirational speaker Francis Kong shared to parents and teachers who attended his talk on “Practical Parenting and Family Values” yesterday at the Saint Theresa’s College auditorium.
“If you don’t allow your children to experience failure, then don’t ever imagine that they will succeed someday,” said Kong, husband to Lilia and father of three children: Bryan, Hannah and Rachel.
He said parents need to realized that rewarding and praising children in every single talk will not teach them life skills. Instead, it will develop “misplaced confidence.”
He cited an example where parents would go all out in praising an artwork done by their child as excellent and topnotch. In reality, it is an average-looking artwork and did not receive a high mark from the teacher.
The child will go to the parents crying, asking them why he got such grade when they said the artwork was perfect.
“Then the parents would say, ‘Your teacher is stupid.’ Instead of praising your children with all the flowery words, tell them how much you admire the effort they put into making that project. Let us be very careful. Children today are overprotected but underprepared,” said Kong.
The atmosphere inside the auditorium was one of parents sharing parenting tips as Kong also shared his experiences as a father.
“Parents make mistakes and we have to learn from it. Nobody can ever claim that he has graduated to a level where he is now a parenting expert,” said Kong, adding that parents should make it an intention to update their parenting skills by attending talks and comparing notes with other parents.
Francis Kong, who is a husband and a father of three children, encourages parents during a forum to continue to update their parenting skills. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)
Kong, also a businessman who started several successful brands such as Company B, said it is crucial for parents to spend time with their children especially in school events that foster stronger parent-child relationship.
“It won’t matter how much millions you’ve earned when you’re not there to be with your children in their first soccer game, that vegetable costume–making contest… those are moments that you cannot buy,” he said.
The auditorium was filled with parents who agreed when Kong said that “children reflect the attitude of their parents.”
To teachers, he said, “You know when the child curses or when he likes to fight with other students, something is happening inside the home.”
Kong, who wrote the book “Famealy Matters,” also reminded parents to consider the dining table as the most important piece of furniture in their homes. He said mealtimes should be fun and should be a time when parents engage children in meaningful conservation.
“The table is a centerpiece where values are passed on from one generation to the next,” he said.
Awarded as an outstanding Filipino in 2014, Kong did not forget to emphasize the importance of Filipino values, and this task is largely dependent on the parents who impress on their children these values.
The talk organized by Saint Benedict Childhood Education Centre was graced by teachers, parents and school officials, among them school president Fr. Ernesto Javier.
“We are very blessed to have Mr. Francis Kong with us. I heard about the book that gave a different spelling to the word family. Famealy is when parents make time and effort to dine with the children because mealtimes are times when they reconnect with each other … these are times when each person is recognized and validated,” said Javier.