WHAT ARE OUR CHILDREN LEARNING?

In today’s world that man has been inundated with all forms of media content, one thing we need to ask is if our younger generations are still appreciating our cultural and moral values? Especially now that many parents have been so pre-occupied with the task of providing the daily bread with little or no time left for advancing their cultural and moral values in their respective families which have resulted in the youths being exposed more to learning from the media than from the family, since the media is always readily available as an agent of socializationThe media in Nigeria, as we know, especially in the entertainment scene, promote the western way of life more than our indigenous culture. Majority of our entertainment programmes are western in outlook. Even the ones that tend to be indigenous in outlook still borrow ideas from the western mode of life. Our secular music and their respective videos are practical examples. Our current musicians making the airwaves have abandoned our style of music which always has tangible messages to pass. The highlife, afrobeats, afrojujus, etc are now a thing of the past. They (our current musicians) have stuck to embracing the western style of music which centres mainly on erotic love, party life, and unearned success, among others. Even our musical videos today are so debasing or corrupting that there is hardly a difference between nudity and one being dressed up. This has been the mode of life that our youths are being exposed to. And this is having its turn on their value system. The aftermath effect of this is that our youths now prefer social functions to spiritual functions; individualism to collectivism; cheap means to success than hard-work; among others.

Experience has shown that when you ask a child that goes for a church function, for instance, bloc rosary or catechism, to give you the latest gist in the entertainment industry, the kid would proudly do so. But ask the same kid what the Rev. Father preached the previous Sunday. The same kid would shy away. How much more one who hardly finds time for church activities. To such a person, it is either the parent with-hold him for some house chore or perhaps he is attending to his educational need. But go to such a kid’s house and you would see the child proudly watching his favourite programme on TV in a balanced mood or, playing with his playmates.

Though it is not wrong to be exposed to the media since it contributes to the human’s social development which is needed in one’s social interaction or behaviour in the society, parents must however make sure that they guide their children in getting the right communication which is devoid of setbacks to our cultural and religious value system, knowing fully well that the way of life inculcated into a child is what he grows up with. And that is what Arnold Schwarzenegger, a popular actor and governor of California, USA, does in his family life. Between 4pm to 7pm each day, he makes sure that the TV set is off in his home so that he could share some quiet time with his family and, protect his children from seeing lots of stuff on television they shouldn’t see.

We must not forget that the Americans and Europeans now live at the peril of their lost cultural values. Culture breeds collectivism. And collectivism breeds responsibility. Lost of cultural values breed individualism and, individualism breeds irresponsibility (I don’t care life). Individualism has not augured well for them. Rather, it has rewarded them with social vices like rape; suicide; divorce; atheism; hedonism; secularism; among others, which are all on the high increase there.

Parents should therefore strife to strike a balance between their jobs and family life to ensure that they guide their children in getting the right channel of media communication for their social and spiritual well-being. If not, they might be falling into the danger of throwing away time-tested values, classical music, classical sexual morality, and classical Judaic-Christian values.
By Ibeabuchi Lazarus Chinedu