Family forum begins in Al-Khobar today

Saudi Gazette report AL-KHOBAR — Under the sponsorship of Emir of the Eastern Province, Prince Saud Bin Naif, the fourth four-day family gathering "Naraak" (we care for you) will be opened here Tuesday. The forum is being organized by Prince Sultan Center for Science and Technology (SciTech) of King Fahd University for Petroleum and Minerals. The forum is aimed at building self-esteem and self-satisfaction which will be positively reflected on one's relations with the others around him. It will focus on the children's relationships with their parents and vice-a-versa, the protection of the young against deviation and criminal tendencies and the realization of a balanced relationship between family members. SciTech's director of public relations and marketing, Waleed Al-Rasheed said the forum was being organized in partnership with the department of intellectual security of the Ministry of Interior. He said during the morning sessions, lectures will be delivered for men on a number of subjects including parental obedience, hopes and frustrations of the youth and the contribution of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (Haia) in reinforcing the intellectual security of the families. Al-Rasheed said during the evening sessions, a number of working papers will be presented. He explained that among others, the working papers will include a research on “the art of dealing with teenagers” which will cover a wide range of themes and topics consisting of the time of pubetry and how we understand the way the teenagers think during this contemporary era. He said another work paper, which will also be delivered, will be titled "how to correct our children's minds". It tackles the nature of the minds of the young men and women from birth until they reach puberty. Hamoud Bin Fahd Al-Gashaan, dean of social sciences and higher studies at the Kuwait University, will deliver a paper titled "ways of improving family ties". The paper will endeavor to answer a number of questions such as when can the family be a source of productive life and when can be an industry for destruction? Why some marriages are successful while others end in divorce? How can we correct the behavioral defaults among the youth? During its past three versions, the forum had attracted more than 5,000 parents.