A ‘child’ is a young human being below the age of puberty
or below the legal age of majority.
Therefore,
‘to train a child’ is to teach
particular skills or behaviours to a young human below puberty over a period of
time.
As the
parents of the future, it is pertinent for us – the youths of today – to understand
some basic skills that we must have before we can call ourselves good parents.
OUR CHILDREN SHOULD BE TAUGHT:
#1. HOW TO EXPRESS THEMSELVES:
African parents are used to the idea of shutting down the ideas of children. This is not the way, because if they are the leaders of tomorrow, children
need to be able to generate ideas, and relate those ideas to others in a simple
and effective and logical manner.
#2. HOW TO NEGOTIATE. Many
children grow up without learning the fine art of negotiation. This may not be
obvious when they go shopping, because they are trained to start pricing from
half the amount the seller offers, but in things like getting things from their
bosses, negotiating with their spouses over who gets to pick up the kids from
school, and shit like that, their deficiency is obvious. Hence the need for
parents to consciously teach their children to negotiate. Don’t ask me how,
figure that part out.
#3. HOW TO SAY NO. This
is some serious shit here. Anosike mentioned in THIS ARTICLE that saying ‘No’ is a very useful life skill.
Well,
parents don’t teach that. African parents only teach you to conform to their
rules, but to be great, you must first rebel.
And the first step of rebellion is saying NO.
#4. HOW TO DRESS. This
may look trivial, but a popular saying goes “dress the
way you want to be addressed”.
Most
African children never really learn to dress according to the occasion. Instead,
they just learn to where NICE CLOTHES. By nice clothes, i do not mean
appropriate clothes, I just mean beautiful clothes. But with proper training,
these little ones can be taught to dress for success instead of dressing to
impress.
#5. HOW TO SHOW RESPECT. With
all due respect, some parents are really shitty at teaching their children to
respect others. Things like greeting elders and talking politely will soon be
obsolete if this isn’t tackled. Hence it is of grave importance that the
parents of the future teach their children by example how to respect people.
BONUS
TEACH THEM TO TAKE INDEPENDENT DECISIONS: Until
your children are independent, you are a failure. If your grown ass son or daughter still brings every decision before you,
then you are a shitty parent.
There is nothing to be proud of in having over-age
babies. From the earliest possible time, start encouraging and allowing your
children to make decisions…as long as these decisions are based on carefully explained ideas. They should also
be negotiated logically and respectfully, while rejecting useless suggestions.
This article was submitted by Ali Tze Ghost, formerly known as Ali, the friendly Ghost.
HE is not on Instagram, His Twitter account is dormant.
You can however see his ghostly face on Facebook HERE
OR
Send him an email: isokariarialaso@yahoo.com
You can however see his ghostly face on Facebook HERE
OR
Send him an email: isokariarialaso@yahoo.com
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