HUBERT Muesa is a father of six, who hails from the village of Triumph, East Coast Demerara. Reflecting on his years of fatherhood, he revealed during an interview with the Pepperpot Magazine that with the advent of technology, fathers aren’t spending enough time with their children as they ought to in this 21st century.
He believes that as a result, particularly the boys, haven’t been getting the role models that are needed to teach them, in turn, to become exemplary young men.

“As boys growing up, we would respect what our fathers gave us certain directions unlike today. I find that a lot of young men, they are influenced by their peers and sometimes they don’t listen to their fathers, they just want to argue a lot with their fathers; so that is the basic difference I find of the fathers years ago as compared to the fathers today,” Muesa said.

Muesa concluded that many things have changed, including fathers not being able to spend enough time with their children and spending more time with their peers, rather than with their children, thus not showing enough interest in their children’s lives.
“The time that should be spent with the children, that time is not there,” Muesa told the Pepperpot Magazine.

Lessons learnt from life as a child
Reflecting on his own childhood, Meusa said that he learnt many lessons.
“We were told that you must not be hitting other people, particularly females. I encourage my boys not to engage in activities that will bring dishonour to their families. I have told my boys to treat any young lady as they will like people to treat their sister. One of the things I have encouraged them to do is to have a good prayer life,” Muesa said.

Another important lesson learnt is the implementation of morning and afternoon devotions. According to him, that is something that is missing these days at home.

He further made mention of the fact that back then, fathers were more concerned with instilling certain qualities in their boys and girls, thus enabling them to be respectable persons in society.

“Fathers who are involved in extra-marital affairs have contributed to the decline in the moral fibre in society,” Hubert Muesa was quoted as saying.

He contended that family values play an important role when it comes to stronger societies and a lack of this is as a result of the breadwinner of the home (father), spending more time out working, thus not being able to spend more time with their children to instill values in them.

Being more forthright
These days, children are allowed to express varying opinions with their parents, but not so in times gone by, Meusa said.

He expressed the view that he shares a very close relationship with his children when compared to what he had with his dad.

He noted that his children can come to him at any time and share anything with him. This fosters a great relationship with his children and also serves to improve the family life of his children when dealing with issues emanating from his children’s families.

“I am very pleased with my sons, the way they are treating their wives and so on and how my daughters are responding to their husbands. I have seen the fruits of our labour, my wife and I, at times they might go out of line, and they correct those mistakes,” Muesa said.

The Joys of being a Father
“My boys and my girls, all of them are working, all of them have good jobs and all of them have happy families,” Muesa expressed.

He said also that one of the regrets that he has is that he should have been more accommodating in dealing with his children regarding certain circumstances.

Advice to Fathers
“Treat women with respect, be responsible, dedicated and industrious and spend time with their children,” are the words that Muesa would give to fathers of today.