The MCI Students' Association (MCISA) invited speaker Attorney Ben Cariaga to speak on "The role of parents: how to be good parents." This study forum is regularly held on Saturdays at the Turkish Coffee Shop.

The study forum held on October 25th aimed to encourage students to value their families as a source of love and support for all their members and as the foundation of a community in which people care for others.

Here is part of his discussion of "The role of parents":

Strong nations depend upon the awakening of the sense of nationhood within the next generation. If a nation fails to raise a trustworthy generation to whom they can entrust their country, then its future is not very promising. We all know that the first teacher is the parent and ultimate responsibility the young falls on mothers and fathers. Every child in the world acquires his concept of the right and wrong, his definition of good and evil, from her parents. Just as parents take care of the child's physical health, so too should they take care of the child's spiritual life. If parents develop their children's gifts to become useful to society and themselves, it gives a country a great pillar, but if they fail to help their kids to develop their abilities, then they will have released a problem to society. I think, every father can make the world better and this country better by investing in their children. Also parents have rights over their children; we must obey our parents because it is a sacred obligation. If we do not obey and respect our parents, we may disobey the Creator. Those who fail to respect their parents some day will be treated the same way. Today's youth will lead and rule, but whether they will be good leaders or bad leaders depends on how we raise them today.

What happens in the family eventually will happen in the country and in the world. If we teach our children how to listen to each other, they will learn how to listen to other people in our society. If we teach our children to respect each other, then someday they will respect other views as well. If we teach our children today to sacrifice for one another, then someday they will learn how to sacrifice for their country and for the common good of our people. So much of this country's problems result from lack of love for the country, lack of the respect for the law, lack of unity with others. All of this begins at home with what parents teach their children. It is within the family that children learn love and respect for others; it is also within the family where children learn to lie, cheat, and become a criminal. What you see in within the family, you see within the nation.

Noted attorney Ben Cariaga is a successful lawyer and a member of MCI's sister club, Share to Care.