CSO advocates teaching of emotional intelligence in schools

A Civil Society Organisation (CSO), ‘Advocacy for Positive Behavioural Patterns Initiative’, has called for the teaching of skills in emotional intelligence in secondary schools.

Mr Bamidele Mann, Chairman of the Organisation, said this in Abuja during a lecture on positive behavioural patterns initiative for secondary school pupils in the Federal Capital Territory and environs.

Mann said that teachers and parents needed to understand that the best skill they could entrench in children was the gift of great behaviour.

“The greatest discovery of all times is that a person can change his future by merely changing his attitude.

“Some parents concentrate only on academic excellence, not knowing how powerful great behaviour can translate into.

“Mastering emotional intelligence will contribute profoundly to lifetime success,’’ he said.

According to Mann, the schools visited were Government Secondary School, Life Camp; Federal Government College, Kubwa; and Federal Government College, Suleja.

Mann said that current research revealed that some students are ‘book- smart but could not control their emotions,’ adding that such an indicator was quite disastrous.

According to him, moral decadence was on the increase and there was the need to teach students at the early stage of life, good behavioural attitude.

Mann said emotional intelligence referred to the ability to perceive, control, and evaluate emotions.

According to him, some researchers suggest that emotional intelligence can be learned and strengthened, while others claim it’s an inborn characteristic.

“The ability to express and control emotions is essential, but so is the ability to understand, interpret, and respond to the emotions of others,’’ he said.

Mr Kaodi Onuoha, Chairman of the Parents/Teachers Association of Federal Government College, Suleja, said that it was important to teach the youths’ emotional intelligence at the early stage.

Onuoha advised the students to ensure that they lived good lives in order to be better citizens in future.

(NAN)