Solomon Islands today marked International Children's Day at the Multipurpose Hall. The Honiara City Lord Mayor, Andrew Mua, gave a dose of advice to parents, "Honor our Children."

"In this world Children are born under different situation, some are privileged while others are bought up under very difficult circumstances...in terms of their access to major social services," he stressed. However, the Lord Mayor went on to say that to respect and honor a young child does not cost money just a "compassionate heart".

Reflecting on the situation in the Solomon Islands Mr. Mua said that some parents complain that they do not have the means to look after their children. "Many parents should realize that we all struggle to bring up our children...the fact is they are our future both for our family and our country."

He also reminded parents of physical abuse against children, an issue that will not be tolerated in this day and age. "Our style of discipline should be measured as some parents sometimes go overboard...there is a fine line between our style of discipline and physical abuse," said the Lord Mayor. "Parents must be careful not to cross that line."

The Lord Mayor said that he though that it would be a good idea to use Children's Day as an occasion to sensitize parents on the needs of their children.

Solomon Times understands that different stakeholders, organizations, donor partners and representatives from 25 schools participated in today's event.