…Smart Parenting Initiative canvass stronger policies, safe spaces as students demand protection from harassment

Parents, schools and government have been urged to prioritise children’s mental health, strengthen anti-bullying policies and expand access to mental health support to enable young people to overcome emotional challenges and reach their full potential.

The call was made by mental health professionals, educators, child advocates and officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the third Smart Parenting Child and Adolescent Mental Health Summit, held at the Rock Event Centre, Abuja.

The summit, themed “Raising a Thriving Generation,” brought together parents, students, educators, policymakers and child development experts to discuss the challenges confronting children and adolescents, including bullying, peer pressure, substance abuse and inadequate communication between parents and their children.

Speakers at the event emphasised that children’s behavioural challenges should not be addressed in isolation from their emotional experiences, warning that failure to provide appropriate support could undermine their development, academic performance and general well-being.

The convener of the summit and family psychologist, Oluwatoyin Gukomi, said the initiative was established to equip parents with the knowledge and practical tools needed to raise emotionally balanced children who could navigate life’s challenges.

Gukomi, who said she had observed many adolescents and young adults struggling with mental health conditions and life challenges through her work in mental health care, explained that the summit was designed to help parents understand their responsibilities in supporting children’s emotional development.

According to her, the first edition, held in 2024, was conducted virtually and focused mainly on parents, while the second edition expanded to include educators.

She said the third edition marked a significant progression, with students participating directly as panellists to articulate their expectations of parents, schools and society.

“This year we have parents, educators, policymakers and the students themselves. We had students coming on as panellists to talk about what they want or what they expect from their parents and their schools to make them thrive in life,” she said.

Gukomi noted that the growing participation of stakeholders had encouraged more parents to listen to their children and understand what it takes to raise well-adjusted individuals.

She called on the government to intensify public enlightenment on mental health and strengthen its integration into the education and youth development sectors.

“My call to the government is that we need more enlightenment. We need a lot of people to know more about mental health,” she said.

She further urged the government to implement the Mental Health Act effectively and ensure that ministries responsible for education, youth development and sports gave adequate attention to the mental well-being of children and adolescents.

The convener said the next phase of the initiative would focus on expanding its reach through schools, online programmes and community-based engagements to equip more parents, teachers and young people with practical mental health knowledge.

Also speaking, Pascal Iwebu, Assistant Superintendent of Narcotics and Staff Officer, NGO Liaison and Stakeholder Engagement, Directorate of Prevention and Sensitisation at the NDLEA National Headquarters, Abuja, described mental health education as essential to preventing substance abuse among young people.

He said discussions such as the summit could equip children with coping skills to withstand peer pressure, negative environmental influences and other experiences that could push them towards harmful behaviours.

According to him, the NDLEA’s prevention and sensitisation programmes, including its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign and Drug-Free Clubs in schools, are designed to educate students about the dangers of drug use and help them develop the confidence to reject harmful influences.

He warned students against believing claims that drugs could improve academic performance or help them achieve success.

“Those that have not started, we teach them coping skills to be able to be assertive in saying no to bad friends who have gone into this, or those who are being fed with very wrong information that when you take this, it will help you to blossom or come out successful in your exams or academics, which is a lie,” he said.

Iwebu described drug use as a growing concern in Abuja and said the agency was pursuing both demand-reduction initiatives through sensitisation and supply-reduction operations targeting locations associated with drug distribution.

He identified cannabis among the widely used substances and warned against the dangers associated with other illicit drugs, including methamphetamine, heroin and cocaine, as well as the misuse of tramadol.

The NDLEA official stressed that the agency could not tackle the problem alone, calling for sustained partnerships with civil society organisations and other stakeholders working to prevent substance abuse.

He also advised young people seeking to help peers affected by drug use to approach them without condemnation, offer support and connect them with qualified professionals.

However, discussions at the summit highlighted the need to ensure that children were not burdened with the responsibility of managing serious substance-use problems among their peers without appropriate adult and professional intervention.

A teen mentor and Lead of the Teen Mentorship Programme, Moladjo Yeleke, said children needed reassurance that help was available and that they should not remain silent when experiencing difficulties.

She advised parents to model the behaviours they expected from their children, communicate consistently and listen to their concerns.

“Any behaviour you want to see in your child, be the role model, communicate, listen, get feedback. If you keep doing that, then you will see a better teenager,” she said.

Yeleke, who also attended the previous edition, described this year’s summit as more engaging and practical, noting that young participants were given the opportunity to express themselves without being shut down by adults.

She called on the government to give mental health the same level of attention as physical health when developing and implementing policies.

“We just see the behaviour. We don’t care to know what happened before the behaviour,” she said, urging policymakers to consider the emotional and psychological circumstances behind children’s actions.

Students demand safer schools

Students who participated in the summit also called for stronger measures to address bullying and improve communication between parents and children.

Victor Shedrock, an SS2 student of Accenture Academy, Kubwa, Abuja, said the discussions had helped him understand the importance of mental health during childhood and adolescence.

He disclosed that a female classmate had experienced both physical and verbal bullying, expressing concern about the effect of such treatment on her emotional well-being.

Shedrock urged school authorities and the government to establish clear anti-bullying policies and appropriate sanctions for offenders.

Similarly, Ranita, a 15-year-old student of Christiaan High School, Abuja, said the summit had helped her appreciate the importance of bridging the communication gap between parents and children.

Her message to other young people was that their opinions mattered and that they deserved to be heard and valued by their families.

Another student of the school, Nnameka, an SS3 student who participated as a panellist, urged parents to understand their children’s experiences and encouraged young people to appreciate their parents’ perspectives.

She also stressed the importance of confidentiality and trust when children confide in adults.

“When a child goes to confide in an adult, that adult shouldn’t spread or tell other people. Because that child came to confide in them,” she said.

Nnameka called on schools to discourage bullying and create safer environments that promote learning, emotional growth and personal development.

Bullying requires urgent intervention

A family and child health expert, Dr. Zainab Yambo, warned against dismissing bullying as a normal part of growing up, stressing that children should report harassment before it escalates.

Drawing from her personal experience of being bullied in secondary school, she explained that the experience had affected her willingness to attend classes until she reported the situation to a teacher.

She said the intervention helped change the situation and eventually enabled her to understand the circumstances surrounding the bully’s behaviour.

However, Yambo cautioned that not every case of bullying would end harmlessly, noting that some incidents had resulted in serious injuries and deaths.

“When somebody is bullying, you don’t wait until it begins to affect you mentally. You have to report,” she said.

She advised children to report bullying to teachers, parents and relatives and continue seeking help until a responsible adult intervened.

The expert also emphasised that children should be treated as individuals with feelings, opinions and rights, rather than being dismissed because of their age.

She said schools and other institutions needed to create environments where children’s voices were respected and their needs appropriately addressed.

The discussions further highlighted the importance of ensuring that children who lack trusted adults have access to guidance counsellors, professional support and safe channels for seeking help.

Another closing speaker, Mrs. Patience Dangaro, encouraged students to remain resilient despite the pressures and expectations associated with adolescence.

She reminded them that they were important members of their communities and urged them not to give up when confronted with difficulties.

The summit ended with calls for stronger collaboration among families, schools, government agencies, mental health professionals and civil society organisations to build a generation of children who are emotionally supported, protected from abuse and equipped to thrive.

Participants stressed that raising a thriving generation requires more than academic achievement and physical care; it also demands listening to children, recognising their emotional needs, responding appropriately to warning signs and ensuring that help is accessible when they need it.