Growing up, I remember one day I told fellow children that an old woman who lived in one of the flats in the same compound peed on her bed at night. I don't know why I said that, it wasn't like I saw her or saw the wet matress, pure mischief I guess. One of the children I gossiped to ran and told her what I said. See beating that day! Chai!! After her own beating, I was still scared because I knew she'd tell my parents and another round of flogging would follow. When my parents came back, she came upstairs and reported me to them, another round of flogging surely followed.
Back then, it was understood that if a child misbehaved, the nearest adult should discipline the erring child and not wait for the parents alone. It kept children in line and once they saw an elder, they'd stop whatever bad thing they were doing. Therefore, it was easier to raise children back then as there were still some semblance of morals left in the society, and fewer distractions.
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I look around the society today, with all that is going on, and I conclude that it is difficult to raise a morally-sound child in today's world. Difficult, but not impossible. From the cartoons they watch, to the children and adults they interact with, they pick up a lot of crap! Most parents frown at a stranger, teacher or even relatives disciplining their children as they believe they're the only ones that should do it. That's why you'd see a child misbehaving and just waka pass, afterall he/she is not your child and the parents will not find your attempt to discipline the child helpful in any way. Children will even see an adult and continue what they were doing, knowing you're not their mother and won't touch them. Sometimes when you report an erring child to the parents they'd laugh over it; some would even criticise you for reporting the child.
The responsibility is still on parents. We definitely don't have it easy as our parents and grandparents did, but we must make the best of what is available to us. A woman swore that her daughter could never be in the shoes of the ex Miss Anambra that was recently caught in the middle of the whole sex tape drama and blackmail; I replied that she shouldn't brag yet because I believe the poor girl's parents believe they did their best to raise a morally sound young girl. The saying 'train up a child in the way he should go and when he grows, he will not depart from it', is still applicable today. When a child is properly trained, peer pressure and life may shake him, try to veer him off the path, but because of that strong moral foundation, he/she will surely find his/her way back to the right path.
I also have done some things which I'm not proud of, but having been raised the way I was, it was impossible for me to derail completely. I can only hope to raise my child with the same sense of morality with which my parents raised me. Our generation and those before us were raised right; what is wrong in trying to raise our children the way we were raised, despite living in different times? I feel the best values to instil in a child are love and kindness; every other value can be subsumed under these two.
E no easy sha, but we just gotta try, don't we?
Meanwhile, I really need to add some spice to my life, work on improving my social life abeg. I find myself joining workout groups, but that shouldn't be my sole idea of fun. Anyone with interesting ideas should hit me up ASAP!
Have a fun-filled weekend.
Hugs...
