Community leaders in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have advised parents to instil discipline in children to foster good morals and a better society.

The concerned citizens, who spoke in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abuja, decried the deteriorating sense of ethics and virtues among youths in communities.

They acknowledged that the bulk of the responsibility for instilling good morals in children lies primarily with parents, adding that various institutions also had a role to play in encouraging a conventional way of living.

Mrs Funke Dosumu, a lecturer, said that effective morals began with good parental orientation.

According to her, many young adults, including children, today tend to go astray and ignore their parents’ or elders’ teachings because they were not corrected for wrongful behaviours while growing up.

“Training a child does not start when the child is in primary or secondary school; it begins when they are toddlers. Unfortunately, most parents find it difficult to correct their children when they do wrong.

“A child who grows up with the mentality that their parents will not scold them for wrongdoing tends to misbehave in public,” she said.