Parenting in an African Home Part II(2)

Yesterday, we discussed the role of the parent in parenting in an African home. We highlight three kinds of parents ; The extremely strict parent, the extremely soft parent and the wise moderate parent. You can go back to read my previous post if you missed it.

Now, the responsibility of morally bringing up a child is not only that of the parent, but also of the society, school , religious organization, peer groups and the child's decisions itself.

The society in which one lives in is very important in the upbringing of a child. By society, I mean that particular area where the child is brought up. The child tend to develop and mimic habits from people in the environments, the friends their parents keep, the people the parent allows the child to mingle with and of course the things the child is made to see and hear.

The society can either make or break a child. Children with bad habits at tender age are advised to be given a change of environment. More often than not, the environment influences the way an individual thinks and behaves. The society shapes the mind of the individual either in a good or bad way. We can easily tell what kind of society one comes from by his or her words, way of thinking, habits and so on.

Here are two examples, a badly trained child at home can be influenced by the "good" society to become a good child during development. Also, a well trained child may be negatively influenced by the society also during development. You must note that the society only has its influence while the child is still growing to become an adult. A female child for example whose parent approves of half naked dressing may be disapproved and rejected by the society. This will make the child feel bad and dejected and will want to improve on her way of dressing. Also, when a girl who dresses rightly is being utterly disapproved by the society, she will tend to adjust to the system of the society and try to "fit in".

We can clearly see in today's post how the society makes or break a growing child. This is another important factor to consider in parenting of a child. We will talk on other factors involved in tomorrow's post. Thanks very much for viewing.