Spoil the rod and spare the child: A reverse case in the present society
Spoil the rod and spare the child: A reverse case in the present society.
As a teacher, one of the greatest challenges I face is "indiscipline", unlike what I witnessed as a child. In my own days, discipline was our watch word but today, our watch word is "child right act". If you flog a child, you'll go in for it! This is what I keep hearing on daily basis. Parents love their kid(s) irrespective of the child's behavior. No one corrects anyone's child these days, even the people who gather courage to do that are doing it at their own risk. If you inform parents of their children's misbehavior, they'll remind you that we're in the modern world and those things are the trending things these days. The worst is that parents indoctrinate their kids into such life.
A society whereby when a child fails your subject, you the teacher is at risk from the child's parents and the school administration. What a world! A society whereby a child who had a poor performance will be taken abroad for holiday while the teacher will face the wrath of the parents and that of the school. The school will be afraid to loose the child but will gladly ask you to go or punish you the teacher.
Parents will change school for their kids just because they were asked to repeat a class they failed. One thing that baffles me is the speed at which the other school will absorb those poorly performed pupils and give them a "pseudo-improvement" while the parents will be jubilating and shaming a school that actually did the right thing.
Today primary school is worthless. No one regards it as anything cos the certificate can't fetch anyone a job neither will the secondary schools consider it when giving admission. No primary school these days do the teaching, all they do is promotion! If you teach secondary school you'll be wondering how the students were admitted and what they were taught in primary education.
Those days when I was in primary 3, I remember how my grand father denied me of my holiday just because I went a little below my normal first position to 3rd position. That long vacation was a terror to me and I can't forget that experience. When I came back for first term primary 4 I advised myself, looked for the possible causes of my failure and worked on them, from there I picked up 2nd position and reassumed my 1st position till I finished my primary education. The surprising thing is that my grandpa was uneducated but he was a good disciplinarian, lover of education and descent life! Today, the so-called educated parents are doing the opposite! If you discipline their children, they'll tag it hatred, very harsh and all other rubbish they'll spew on you the teacher. I think it's because when they look at their account balance, they'll see how fat and huge it is while yours the teacher is flat and shrunk! In my pupil days, how dare you gather courage to report your teacher to your parents because the teacher flogged you? Who you be? The first time I tried it, my dad continued from where my teacher stopped. My dad doesn't hate me, but he knew the teachers' aim was for my good and alas it was for my good!
I dropped out of secondary school in my 3rd term SS1 and studied at home for my SSCE yet I cleared my papers without any form of malpractice. Today, only very few pupils will comfortably have a minimum pass in SSCE without malpractice, even with the tutoring of competent teachers in various subjects.
The bottom line of this post is that as long as parents don't wish to take their responsibility in disciplining their children, CHRISLAND COLLEGE incident is a child's play to the subsequent ones. It has started and social media is there to keep us updated. There are many higher similar cases. Let's watch! I'll be alive to see more.
I scolded a child for messing up in one of my exam questions, the parents came after me. Today, how far na?
If you scold a child, to his or her parents you hate that child. They'll tell you the story of Ben Carson but they forgot that his mother came through for him.
Parenting is not about having the money for the child, it goes beyond that.
Agbo K.U