RAISING CHILDREN OF GOOD CONSCIENCE

Imagine what will become of the world today if all of us begin to live as though we are the only ones that are alive and do matter. Such a world will be filled with people who act the way they want and can go to any length to satisfy their desires and meet their needs. We will hurt one another and not count it as anything. The danger of this will be that people will prey on each other and create a ‘survival of the fittest atmosphere’. In order not to deteriorate to that point, parents everywhere must come to the understanding that parenting carries with it the responsibility of shaping the thinking of the next generation. One of the ways of carrying out that responsibility is by raising children who are think about others just as much as they think and are concerned about themselves.

A child raised in the mud huts of third world nations may in the future find himself in the corporate places of first world nations and he will carry with him the unwritten codes he is used to whether they be good or bad. The people around him will have to deal with his/her good or bad value system. If he goes ahead to get married and have children, they are great chances that he will raise them the same way he was raised. In recent times in Nigeria, we have seen how much some children have brought shame to themselves, their parents and families at large; in many cases however, it is not without the contribution of another selfish child who was just thinking about himself or herself. The word ‘child’ is used loosely in this context.

It is no longer news that we live in a world that is completely digitalized with many young people living their lives on social media and deriving relevance from the internet. We have also seen how young people find themselves in uncomfortable situations and instead of taking steps to confront the wrong that is happening, they bring out their mobile devices and record the action and have it distributed on social media platforms. In their folly, they believe that they are just having fun; what they don’t know is that they have just contributed to making the life of another young person like themselves miserable and definitely more complicated. Many of the viral sex videos of young people corrupting our public morals today are products of this unfortunate reality. Young people are now becoming comfortable with preying and taking advantage of their peers to the extent of killing, maiming and commercializing themselves. This is in most cases a reflection of their values.

Parenting should not be about raising children to show how great a parent you are but also to contribute to making the world a better place. You have to raise children who value and respect the people life brings their way. Children should be taught to think about others and how they are affected by their actions. You must know as a parents or guardian that there are things the young people(children) under your watch will never learn until they hear you emphasize and reemphasize those things. Teach your children the golden rule (doing to others what we want done to us) and exemplify it yourself. Every opportunity you have should be use to reemphasize how acting in selfishness leads to an unhealthy society. Encourage them to act in the best interest of others even when they don’t deserve it. It will be easier for them to imbibe these values when they see you practice them in the way you treat other people especially your spouse.

Any child with a good conscience will not bully another child, they will also not sit by and watch another child be bullied; neither will they showcase to the world their peers in their weakest moments. If children are truly leaders of tomorrow, they have to learn how to take a stand today and commit to doing right and treating people right.

My name is Busaosowo Bisong and I write to give a voice to the concerns of young people