Parents, if children don’t feel a sense of belonging at home, they will look outside - Volatabu

Parents play a pivotal role in children’s lives, and they should create a platform where children can easily come to them for any advice or share whatever they are going through.

This was highlighted by Drug-Free World Fiji Founder Kalesi Volatabu during the fijivillage Straight Talk with Vijay Narayan when advising parents on the importance of their roles in ensuring that their children are not falling victim to drugs.

She says parents are the first role models for the children and do not expect teachers or somebody else from outside to do that.

While talking about her past life, Volatabu says she never thought that her mother would leave her in Australia when she wanted to travel back to Fiji and this broke her.

She says she ended up on the streets because there were people like her who were kicked out of their families and were also unloved.

The Founder says there are certain things that children are being influenced by inside a family instead of them going outside and being influenced by somebody else.

Volatabu stresses that if children do not feel a sense of belonging in their family, they will look for it outside.

Volatabu says parents cannot be naive anymore and monitor what their children do when they are on their smartphones because whatever is seen in movies and social media about drugs is not the reality that happens in the real world.