The Gomoa West District Social Welfare Officer, Mr. Wallace Acheampong, has called on fathers to show their children the love they have for them by devoting some time to satisfy their psychological needs.
Acquisition of worldly things, Mr Acheampong pointed out, seem to have occupied all the attention of fathers so they have no time to spend with their kids.
Speaking at a forum organized by Nana Edu Effrim X, Chief of Apam, to mark Fathers Day on Sunday, at Apam, Mr. Acheampong attributed the increase in social vices to the little time parents had for their children.
He pointed out that more than too many of the children in Apam were not in school but at the beaches and video centres.
He said teenage pregnancy was on the high side in the district and cited a case of a 19 year old girl who had had four children.
Mr. Acheampong took the participants through the Children's Act of 1989 and cautioned parents to live up to their responsibility.
Children are gifts from God to parents who have by their deeds expressed the desire for them, he said, and added that if they have them they must take very good care of them.
The participants, mostly priests and elders of the churches in town, also expressed concern about parents' attitude towards education of their children and appealed to the district assembly, and the traditional authorities to enact bye-laws to protect the rights of children.
Nana Effrim cautioned video operators against admitting school children into their centres during school hours and also spoke against hiring of bicycles especially during the night.