GLOBALISATION AND CHILD UPBRINGING TODAY

 

Globalization and Child Upbringing Today

When we speak of globalization, we mean that everything has been globalised including child upbringing in our families. We can therefore ask ourselves if we can notice any difference between children brought up during those days and the children of today. Today’s child upbringing has been affected by many factors; on top of them is the global world. It has really affected not only children but also the parents who are raising them. These effects are visible and onerous. It has really influenced the knowledge, skills, and forms of learning required of children as cultures are affected by worldwide influences of globalization. Children have many interpretations of these changes for themselves and their future; what then is the future with this outstanding globalization?

Parents have themselves shown bad examples to their growing children. Children have been affected by many things from their parents like indecent dressing, use of bad words in front of children, uncontrolled taking of alcohol and drugs, fighting or indulging themselves in physical or verbal abuse in front of children and unnecessary use of money. Love for each other between parents has been affected by modern gadgets of phones, computers, tablets where everyone tends to have no time for each other. One is on social media, another one on office work and they finally meet in bed. These and other examples are well recorded by children in their memories We have to remember that experiences matter a lot in children’s life. Children learn from the experiences they have from their parents, schools and their friends as they grow old.

In addition, most parents nowadays are concentrating much on preparing for children than preparing children themselves. Most parents nowadays say, “Nkolera abaana bange” meaning whatever they are doing is for the children. This makes them give little attention to the forming of a child into a good person who can work for him/herself in future in case the parent is not there. In any case if what the parent did or gathered for his/her child deteriorates, the child in his/her adulthood remains with nothing and the only solution is to take refuge in antisocial behaviours and criminality.

Children today have also lost parental love which was fully provided during those days. Working parents have little or no time for their young children. The task has been left to house maids and nowadays a child can call a house maid a mother because most of the time is spent with a maid. There have been instances when a child calls his or her dad a visitor or uncle and this extent means a family is not in unity at all. Children have missed touch from their parents which is very fundamental in child growth.  Some also have missed breast milk; they just feed on bottles. Such a child who grows without the experience and love of the parents misses a lot in his/her life.

Early schooling has affected a lot the human formation system. Children nowadays miss many norms and values passed on by parents, relatives and neighbors as well as the whole community at home. This is because children start schooling at an early age starting with kindergartens, nursery schools, primary schools and higher levels of learning. Nowadays boarding in schools starts at even the level of kindergarten and this means a child at a tender age has already left home. He or she only comes home for only 3-4 weeks (remember others study even in holidays) and even when home, the child is taken care of a house maid. Even for day scholars, children leave their homes very early from 5 am and even come back home very late, almost 7 pm. In Nigeria children have to study for few hours, from 8am to 3pm so that they can have enough time with their parents. This is not the case in our country; we study the whole day. This means a child has little time to spend with parents who would care much in imparting values, norms and morals more than other people who do not care a lot. The whole responsibility is left to teachers at school because most of the time is spent at school.

Unfortunately, the schools which would guide, counsel, impart morals and behaviours to children are no longer concerned. Teachers and school administrators are only concerned about academics and perhaps business and not developing children as well as students into the whole person. A person’s life consists of many aspects like spiritual aspect, moral aspect, social aspect, psychological aspect, academic aspect, emotional aspect and others. Forming only one aspect of academics means a person is half formed; he or she will be weak in other aspects which has resulted into immorality and other forms of antisocial behaviour. Lack of career guidance and counseling (which would be done by parents at home) in schools is partly to blame for increasing rate of drug abuse among the young, school dropouts and even teenage pregnancies. With the new government laws which no longer allow teachers to punish children in schools or canes not exceed two, children are now inclined to disobedience of their teachers and other school administrators.

Children and students who survive all these vices while they are still in schools show them off when they are old especially in the responsibilities they are handling. There have been many reports concerning bribery, corruption, and embezzlement of government funds, nepotism, extortion, cronyism, parochialism, patronage and others. These and others result as a result of moral decay which starts as one grows up from childhood. There has also been behaviour change in young people with lack of respect for old people, parents, teachers and other antisocial behaviours caused by redundancy on streets, the rising gambling and betting and negative attitudes towards work.

Cultural globalization has really affected child upbringing today. Our cultures are resourceful but have been turned to reference because of globalization. Cultural norms, values, customs and morality which were used to be passed on to children are considered obsolete now and we have taken up a new cross cultural generation. Most of the young people no longer know their own local languages but English, and local proverbs which imparted wisdom to the young people. Education on certain matters such as sexuality by parents, aunts and uncles has decline; instead the young already know themselves and start sexual acts when they are still young. We have seen the consequences of this. In addition, children are separated from each other, every child with his or her room. This has reduced their bond as brothers and sisters; children grow better when they share rooms, socialize, shout and play with each other. Most children are also cut from their friends especially neighbors and no longer play children games which play an important role in the growth of a child both psychologically and socially.

The current unemployment has been caused by the people’s attitude towards work. Education today has been taken as for white collar jobs. It is just focused on finding winners and losers instead of imparting necessary skills for people to apply in the practical world. Universities and other institutions of learning are today for winners or those who succeed in studies. Even the curriculum taught, some of it to do not fit to solve African problems. We need a review in the curriculum. Technical schools have been left for failures and very few go there. What is surprising is that no one who goes to technical school lacks a job. This calls for a change of attitude of minimizing jobs by parents and children themselves by advocating for technical work and even handiwork.

Social media has also a great influence on children upbringing today. A child’s only task apart from going to school is to watch Television and some of the children are allowed to watch TV channels and programmes of their choice. Some of these channels and programmes have really participated much in diluting our cultures and advocating for what is so called dot com. What a child sees is what she or he does and most times children become so addicted if not controlled that they cannot do any work apart from watching. In addition, today most children are exposed to all sorts of gadgets like smart phones, computers, tablets and others own them personally. This sometimes draws the attention of children from other things to use of these gadgets. Some parents have been advocating for children and even students to go with their phones at school, but to me this will create more harm than good for they will be the order of the day in schools. There will automatically be a decline in academics as most attention will be put to phones. Social media and other social networks are good but should be regulated in use especially to children who are still tender in stages of human formation system.

With these global changes, where are we heading to and which type of future do we have in our children? The fact is that globalization has come and it is still here, the only thing to do is to devise means on how to use what it offers in a right way, with right people and in the right time. We are compelled also to devise means on how to see that globalization has not affected negatively the young people because they are the generation of tomorrow. Instead to use it in a way that will help the growing young people realize what they intend to be in future and to build up a developed community with reduced rates of crimes and immorality. New generation needs new approaches to life to ensure living well in the society and our country at large. Who then is to do this? You and me. It starts form you and me to see that the current globalization has a positive impact on us and our children. We have to rediscover our values and customs; I do not mean to go back, but to use those values to be modernized. Parents, government, human right activists, political analysts, education practioners and all people, let us work together to make a better world to live in provided with what globalization offers to us.

 

Wilson Karugaba