Mr Samuel Ofosu- Ampofo, Eastern Regional Minister, on Wednesday appealed to parents to place premium on the upbringing of their children so that they could grow up with a sense of responsibility and vision.
He urged them not to place emphasis on buying exorbitant funeral clothes and other fashionable dresses which had now become the order of the day.
Mr Ofosu-Ampofo made the appeal during the International Women's Day Celebration in Koforidua.
The day, being celebrated under the theme- "Women and men united to end violence against women and girls" brought together women from the National Fire Service, Ghana Police Service, Ghana Hairdressers and Beauticians Association, Tailors and Dressmakers Association, students and women from other professional bodies.
Mr Ofosu-Ampofo urged women to support the government and school authorities in fighting hooliganism, occultism and other indiscipline acts that had the tendency of retarding the progress of the youth and the nation.
He expressed worry about the situation where a number of women had shirked their responsibilities as mothers and had embraced certain lifestyles which had contributed greatly to the waywardness of their children
"A lot of children are no more enjoying the love, care, affection and support they deserve from their mothers possibly due to misplaced priorities," he said
The regional minister expressed concern about the spate of indiscipline such as rape, defilement, drug abuse, wife battery, pre-marital sex and other criminal activities.
"What makes it more pathetic is the fact that, most of these acts are being perpetrated by the youth who are in our institutions of higher learning," he said.
Mr Ofosu- Ampofo said government acknowledged the pivotal role that women played in the socio-economic development of the nation and had instituted a lot of interventions to empower them.
The Eastern Regional Coordinator of the Women's and Children Affairs, Ms Jane Kwapong, said in spite of numerous programmes on domestic violence against women and children, statistics indicated that from January to March this year, the Eastern Regional office of the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) recorded 68 assault cases.
She appealed to all stakeholders to join hands together to ensure that domestic violence against women and girls are eliminated.