PROF.
BEN ONYEUKWU (REV.)
NCE(Eng.) ND/HD (Journalism); BA (Hons)
MA, PhD.
CHRISTIAN GROUND FOR SOUND UP-BRINGING OF THE CHILD
“Train –up a child
in the way he should go; and when he is old,
he will not turn
from it”, (Proverb 22:6).
INTRODUCTION:
In
his book, “You can help others in your
life”, Dr. Gary Collins remarks that, “there is now a field of study known
as community psychology and another termed Community Psychiatry. People who
work in these areas seek an active involvement in the society, including
politics, service clubs, educational institutions, and the news media. The
focus here is the changing of the society to make it less stressful. This
concept holds that the right kind of information and education would prevent
personal problems, reduce existing difficulties and improve the mental health
of the people.
History
shows that the Nigerian society has an age-long experience of social vices,
stress and juvenile delinquencies. The reason for this is not farfetched. The
Nigerian educationists and policy makers jettison the ideals of biblical
principles in child upbringing. Agencies involved in child training in Nigeria
seem to have been greatly influenced or illusioned by the secular ideas
prevalent in Nigerian system of education, which is devoid of God and Christ.
Secularism offers no solid educational foundation for the up-brining of the
child. For instance, the United States of America, the world’s most outstanding
secular state suffers a great deal of social ills in the contemporary world
because of its shift from a bible-based policy on education to an absolute
secular policy for the up-brining of American child. Similarly, Nigeria’s
secular approach to education since 1970 has been fingered by some concerned
individuals as the genesis of the outrageous social ills in the country.
Before
the government take-over of schools by the Gowon Administrations in 1970, the
Nigerian society maintained a high degree of moral profile that was cherished
both locally and internationally. This moral blessing that resulted in good
governance, social stability, honest labour and sincerity of purpose, no doubt,
was as a result of the high level of moral education carried out by the then
proprietors of schools, especially those schools owned and managed by
missionaries. However, not too long after the government take-over of school in
Nigeria, the Nigerian society began to experience on unprecedented evil of
social vices and juvenile delinquencies.
Considering
the impending social ills in the Nigerian society of today, the child training
agents (parents, pastors and school teachers) have to adopt both preventive (avoiding or
presenting with caution any information capable of building negative academic
and moral disposition in the child) and restorative
(bringing back to the consciousness of the child the ideals of sound
academics, punctuated with godliness and moral uprightness) measures in their
efforts in child training. When a proper educational foundation is laid for the
child, coupled with well articulated and biblically guided information, no doubt,
a sound academically and morally polished child that will be the joy of the
home and society will emerge.
THE
ROLES OF AGENCIES IN CHILD TRAINING:
Fundamentally,
the home is the initial training institution for the child. Two other
outstanding agencies that complement the effort of the home in child training
are the church and school. Each of these institutions plays important roles and
by divine arrangement should co-operate in child upbringing. Where there is
conflict in ideology and training goals, confusion and fruitlessness will
definitely prevail. The agencies engaged in child training must share a common
concept if the child would be given a clear sense of direction.
The
church’s participation in the upbringing of the child is an indication of God’s
interest in this noble task. In the book of Deuteronomy 6:6-9, God expressly
instructed Moses to charge the people with the responsibility of teaching the
children of Israel the precepts of the law. Since the mode of education in
Israel’s context at the time of Moses was basically religious, the process
consequently metamorphosed into the establishment of rabbinic schools where
pupils were trained in the Law of Moses.
Building
on the prevailing situation in Nigeria as a secular state, the Nigerian child
if would be balanced in human development, needs four areas of concentration in
his education, namely, the moral, social, mental and spiritual dimensions.
These dimensions have to be properly taken care of before one can talk of a
sound Nigerian child. This makes it imperative for the Nigerian educators and
policy makers to give special attention to these cardinal points in child
training when fashioning-out a suitable curriculum for Nigerian schools.
THE
HOME AND CHILD TRAINING
At
the pre-school age (in Nigeria context 0-5 years) the home is outstandingly
prominent in the training of the child. The parents being the informal
instructors of the child feature in the moral, social, mental and spiritual
development of the child. During this period, the basic family and society
values are put into the child. Furthermore, the home features considerably in
some degrees of mental training for the child. In his spiritual training he is
directed to know God and keep His commandments. This spiritual training suffers
where the parents of the child are heathens or careless. The child’s social
aspect of home training is geared towards teaching him the mode of relationship
with the people in his society and environs. The mental education for the child
at home gives him an ample of the knowledge of what he is to meet in school.
It
is unfortunate to note that most parents and guardians neglect this initial
role in child up-bringing. In such careless homes, no true sense of direction
is in any way given to the child upon which he can build. This underscores the
reasons for Nigeria’s record of high degree of Juvenile delinquency in every
nook and cranny of her society. With the above facts in mind, it becomes vital
to state that God’s word charges every parent and person in child training
business to train up the child in the way he should go – (Proverb 22:6). In
training the child, therefore, he should be shown:
(1)
The
right social way
(2)
The
right moral way
(3)
The
right spiritual way
(4)
The
right mental or intellectual way
These are the bases for making a sound
child.
THE
CHURCH AND CHILD TRAINING
Principally, the church is
commissioned to teach the precepts of God’s kingdom. Since the precepts are all
embracing, the church is therefore qualified to give education that would
develop the total man, spirit, soul and body. Like the home, the church
curriculum in child training programme should cover the spiritual, moral and
mental life of the child. In moulding the child spiritually, the church should
lay a strong foundation of the love of God in him, pointing out very clearly
that such love should be operated from the energies of the child’s might and
strength. The Church’s social moulding of the child requires showing him how he
should also love and relate with his fellow human beings as himself. The moral
dimension of the child’s church training should center on the articulation of
God’s ethical principles (rights and wrongs) as we have them in the Bible. In
the mental or intellectual training of the child, the church should play an advisory
role, guiding him on how best he should go about his academics in schools, in
the fear of God.
Regrettably,
every sincere observer with a clear perception of the activities of churches in
Nigeria will attest to the fact that most Nigerian church operatives and
para-church agents adduce imbalance training programmes for the child. In most
cases these misguided operatives and agents extremely hold onto the spiritual
dimension of the child’s training at the expense of others. Where they try to
incorporate every dimension, they along the line fall victim of misdirecting
their prospects, owing to wrong subjective impressions. For instance, most
churches do not have a sound biblical viewpoint about the society. As such,
they present to their members in their programmes only the ills of the society,
leaving behind its noble values and thereby mounting up in them an attitude of
“holier than thou” which makes them isolate from the real issues of life. The
church’s imbalanced curriculum in child training is a great disservice to
humanity.
PARENT-SCHOOL
TEACHER CONFLICT IN CHILD TRAINING
At
the school Age (in Nigerian context 6-12 years) the home begins to share its
training responsibility with the school. This is where the problem sets in. the
teacher with different ideology from that of the parents will at this time
begins to mount-up opposition against the family principles instead of
complementing them. For instance, a teacher with a low moral profile has no
backup for the parental training that a child has received at home. Instead,
such a teacher with a deficient moral standing would want to impose his
negative disposition on the child against the will of the home and parents.
Hence this had been the prevailing situation in Nigeria, it is therefore evident
that most Nigerian kids are spoilt in schools at the expense of moral, social,
mental and spiritual values which every concerned parent aims at.
THE
NEED FOR PARENT – SCHOOL TEACHER CO-OPERATION IN CHILD TRAINING
Before
any meaningful training can be achieved in the life of a given child, the
parent and teacher have to come to agreeable points.
(1)
They
teacher and parent should not work in isolation.
(2)
They
should come to the understanding of the tendencies in the child they wish to
train.
(3)
They
should always investigate to know the source(s) of the negative influence(s) on
the child, whether from peer group or people of higher social status and try to
avoid such influence(s)
(4)
They
should equally report to themselves of any positive or negative development in
the child’s life in the process of training.
(5)
They
should also learn to correct the child with one voice.
It is evident that
where the teacher-parent co-operation is not enforced, there is bound to be a
breakdown in the set objective for the child-s up-brining. This calls for
proper caution on the side of the parent in making a choice of school for the
child.
MAKING
A CHOICE OF SCHOOL FOR THE CHILD.
It has been
psychologically proven that “man is the product of his environment”. As such,
the place where a child is trained is of vital importance. A writer underscores
this truth with the following lines “like the leader, like the follower”.
Institutions with divergent ideology from that of the parents and family will
not offer education that will be satisfactory. Similarly, institutions with
staff team of low moral disposition will have nothing to offer to the child
morally. Therefore, in making a choice of school for the child, the following
factors are to be considered.
(1)
The
moral value of the school, leader and staff.
(2)
The
academic levels of the leader and staff of the school.
(3)
The
principal ideology of the school and the leader.
(4)
The
religious persuasion of the leader and staff of the school (this includes
whether they are members of secret clubs or society).
(5)
The
interest of the school, staff and leader in training, whether it is incentive
or job oriented.
In conclusion, it is the sincere
effort of the writer of this piece to show how the home, the church and school
should play complementary roles in the up-brining of the child. It is hoped
that the biblical light shed in the project will be of immense help to the
well-meaning trainer of the child. Thus, the writer prays that God uses these
lines to direct the reader towards the path of sound child up-bringing. BEST WISHES.
