"Bad parenting is like a cankerworm that eats away at every area of society."

That was one of the timely reminders and understated truths presented by the panellists of one parenting forum held in honour of Parent Month, recently.

Under the national Parent Month theme 'Parenting right from the start', the forum gathered a number of principals, parents and educators to discuss the best practices of positive parenting. It was held by the Barita Education and Digicel foundations, at the Barita Education Foundation in Kingston.

Perhaps one of the most controversial contributions made was by panellist Natoya Wilson, a parent whose child attends the Chin-Loy Basic School.

"I think one of the biggest problems with parents in Jamaica today is that they are too young ... I had my first child when I was 18. I don't think I was prepared," Wilson said. She is now 26 years old with three children.

Sex education

Informed by her circumstances, Wilson is advocating that children be taught sexual responsibility from as early as basic school.

"I wish the Ministry of Education would teach children, even from they're 16 years old, how to parent. Teach children how to value themselves, value their bodies ... from even five, even in the basic school!"

Another noteworthy contribution was that of Morton Wilson, principal of August Town Basic School. Wilson spoke, in part, about the presence of children on murder scenes and warned of its negative effects on the young.