Parents need to be firm with their teenage children and to be always aware whether the latter are at home or not when it is late night.

The prime minister's wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor said parents should also know with whom their children went out with and what they were doing, and set the time their children must return home.

"They need not be 'understanding' parents and even if they want to, there should be a limit."

Rosmah said this to reporters when asked to comment on the tragedy where eight cycling teenagers aged 13 to 16 were mowed down by a car in Johor Bahru about 3.30am last Saturday, while eight others were injured including two seriously, in the incident.

She had earlier attended the pre-launching event and press conference on the seminar on Child Sexual Crime: Stop! at Seri Perdana, here, today.

While expressing sadness over the tragedy, Rosmah hoped that from now, parents would pay more attention to their children and not allow them to loiter until late night.

She said parents should not have a careless attitude by not bothering whether their children were at home or not, especially when it was already late at night.

Rosmah said she agreed with the advise of the Sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar that parents should forbid their children from playing at dangerous locations to avoid any untoward incident.

"I very much agree with what tuanku (Sultan Ibrahim) had said, 'Biar mereka yang menangis, jangan kita yang menangis.' (Let them cry rather than us crying later)," she added. -- BERNAMA