By Juliet Umeh

As part of its efforts to address the ignorance of children’s mental disorder in Nigeria, an institution, Olashore International School, OIS, will this week in Lagos hold a seminar aimed at educating parents and caregivers  on mental health with the theme: ‘Stem the Tide.’

Announcing this at a press conference, Chairman, Board of Directors at OIS, Prince Abimbola Olashore, said a lot of parents and caregivers including nurses, teachers among others are ignorant of mental disorders in children and also don’t talk about it. He said that mental illness comes in so many areas and it is also a leading cause of drug abuse.

“When you don’t quickly diagnose and deal with it, it turns out in some other areas and the most obvious one maybe lack of discipline but the good thing about it is that if it’s well diagnosed, it is treatable, it’s not really a problem once you know what it is,” Olashore said.

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Olashore said: “As much as we focus on the academic aspects of a child, we also focus on making sure the child develops especially with a full range of talents.   “We realised that this is a more topical issue since last May that we started. So, we decided to hold this annually where we bring experts to educate parents, caregivers, teachers, and those who are involved in raising children on how to improve on their knowledge and also share experiences.

He said there will be a parents’ section to be lectured by the experts.  “Then, we will also have different topics where we can register and break into groups. In the end, they will all come into the main hall and share what they’ve learned and experiences.

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“Also, we have a provision for a one-on-one clinical session. if you don’t want to discuss openly, you will meet an expert,” Olashore explained.

Speaking, Vice Chairman, OIS Board of Directors, Prince Taiwo Olashore, said the programme is important because the current environment is being shaped by the social media and television, hence the need to educate caregivers. The OIS Director of External Relations, Mrs. Regina Inem, said the overall aim is to educate caregivers, mothers towards ensuring they are equipped to help the young generation to succeed.

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