Monitor churches and kind of fellowship your child attends

In a couple of days, the schools will open for another academic term. The holiday has been short for students, which means the interaction with parents and other members of society has not been that long.
As parents take keen interest in what the children take to school, to guard against drug abuse and sex exploits, many of them forget to follow up an issue that is affecting children in schools, especially religious extremism.
During the holiday, the children interface physically and on line with different religious people as well platforms. It is unfortunate that some religious leaders with high sounding titles preach religious extremism to their followers and listeners.

Children have brains that are clean slates and whatever falls on them, if not removed in good time, sticks there perpetually.
The message some religious leaders pass on to the school going children are at times misleading . For instance, to tell a child to keep reading the Bible and not academic books, has affected many children in schools. Many schools face the challenge of handling such students, who end up spending much time reading the Bible at hidden corners. In the process, they end up dodging formal lessons. It is all about Bible bashing and speaking to other school mates to ‘convert’

Religious-founded schools have always had challenges with such students as they fail to meet the expected religious tenets of the schools. The students end up disobeying school rules and regulations and regard any action taken against them as mere persecution.
Consequently, their academic performance declines and many get expelled from schools.

In extreme cases, some of the heads of religious institutions even follow children to their schools under the pretext that they are checking on their spiritual growth and development.
They can organise out of school fellowships and gatherings, which will appeal to students, especially those in boarding schools. In the end, students start escaping from school to attend fellowships under the pretext that they are doing work for God.
Therefore, parents should be very careful. They should visit the places of worship and fellowships their children attend. Besides, they should as much as possible talk to the children to abide by their school rules and regulations.
Percy Mulamba,
Kampala