Maids taking over parenting role

NST: PETALING JAYA: A leading psychologist warns that maids are beginning to replace parents. Children are growing up interacting more with the maid than with their parents as they spend less and less time with their children due to work commitments.
Monash University and Sunway Medical Centres clinical psychologist Paul Jambunathan said many children were learning their values from the maid rather than from their own parents, and "the presence of a maid affects family bonding in a very big way".
Speaking at the launch of the Gain Family Discovery Camp organised by health food company Abbott Malaysia yesterday, he said it is common to see children giving more respect to the maid than their parents.
"In some cases, the maids are the boss of the house and children obey the maid rather than their parents when told to stop doing something.
"Children are not being brought up by the right people any longer. Parents might as well have a shoplot, take their children and dump them there and let other people look after them," he said after the launch.
He said employers should provide day-care centres so parents can still interact with their children during working hours.
"Maids, teachers and drivers have taken away the God-given role of parenting," he said.
He said parents should be the primary educators of their children.
"Parents have to give their children love and attention, the primary diet for emotional development," he said.
The three-day camp for five families on Pulau Tioman from June 6 to 8 will include events to help parents bond with their children.
These include plays, taking walks and counselling with Jambunathan, who will take notes on how parents are interacting with their children.
"I will be available to the parents 24 hours a day for them to share their parenting problems with me," he said.
The five families will be chosen through a contest organised by Abbott. The families of two adults and two children will be selected based on their creativity in answering two questions on the entry form that is available at retail outlets.