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Parents have been advised to devote quality time to the upbringing of their children in order to understand them and groom them to be better persons in future. A former Women�s Organiser of the Convention People�s Party (CPP), Madam Harriet Anita Baidoo, who gave the advice, said spending quality time with children enabled the parents to know and understand their children better to give them the necessary support. She said denying children such attention left them at the mercy of friends who would sometimes lead them astray. Madam Baidoo was speaking to the Daily Graphic during a New Year party she organised for about 200 children, including street children, at Kaneshie. Quality time According to her, the welfare of children is very important so parents and the society should work to seek their welfare. �Parents should have time for their children, get closer to them and understand them better, otherwise they will lose their children to peer pressure,� she advised. To curb what she termed �the indisciplined behaviour and other social vices such as corruption in the country,� Madam Baidoo said parents should instil discipline in their children and inculcate a sense of nationalism in them right from their infancy. She also encouraged parents to look out for other children who were genuinely in need and support them in any way they could. According to her, the party was intended to bring children from different backgrounds to interact with one another, and especially for the street children to have a sense of belonging in the society during the festive season. Street children With a great passion for children, Madam Baidoo said she usually gathered street children on Sundays, shared the word of God, fed and counselled them to build their confidence. Having observed that some children ran away from home, she said most of the children ran away from home because of broken homes and poverty, among others. She, therefore, urged parents to, as much as possible, take very good care of their children, while the government and institutions ensured the effective implementation of existing laws to protect children and ensure that parents took care of their children. Although, she has managed to adopt some of the street children, she said there was much work to be done by the government and the society in ensuring the safety of children�the future generation. She urged Ghanaians to see the welfare of children as a shared responsibility.