When a minor misbehaves in society, many hands tend to point towards the parents.
Ubi Franklin, on his official Instagram account, posted a video of a woman who cried out to Nigerians for help after discovering that her child was ‘raped’ during a school trip to Dubai, organized by Chrisland Schools.
Upon this report, @Rahys5 on Twitter had to post a video which was said to be the students of Chrisland Schools engaging in immoral acts during their school trip. This has generated a lot of concern on social media, as people looked for whom to blame.
First, it was established from the disturbing video, that the 10 years old wasn’t actually raped. It was seen that it was an action done wilfully. People liked Tonto Dikeh and a lot of other celebrities opined that the girl was used to such actions, according to what they say in the video.
The mother blamed the school for not doing their job, while the school in turn blamed the mother for bad parenting.
In a statement released by the school, this was said:
“Within these 71, we had our girls on the 11th floor and boys on the 4th floor to draw clear lines that respect moral boundaries.”
Again, a Twitter user @Ohmz___ had this to say: “I said I was going to send my kids to Naija to at least do their primary and secondary education before coming back to do university here if they so wish.
The purpose was so they can learn about the conservative African culture that was very morally strong. I ain’t sure there is any difference anymore.”
While many battled to lay blame on the child’s ward and teachers, it is proper to note that people are missing something.
While growing up, my parents trained us in a way that inclined to good morals, and so did a certain neighbor of ours. The couple also trained their kids well. Apart from this, we attended the same mission school with their kids. Living Word Academy is well known in the East for the standard of morals while giving an outstanding level of education.
The parents’ upbringing and the school’s training are meant to be enough in channeling their kids in the right direction. However, one of their wards named Chibuike, was entirely different from what the parents expected. He had the tendency of taking things that weren’t his. Saying he was a thief would sound so harsh, but that was what it seemed like.
He would steal in school and repeat such at home. He kept bringing bad names to his guardians whom to our understanding and that of my parents were doing everything possible to bring out the best in him.
I was always hurt each time it was said that he was a product of bad parenting. I felt for the parents who I’ve realized and confirmed to be wonderful people.
So, I don’t think parents are always to be blamed for the inadequacies of their children. Yes, there’s a high possibility that the guardians of the Chrisland Schools ward lagged in their duties, but we cannot also cancel the fact that they could have laid down good principles for her.
In the end, a child chooses what he or she wants to be, the level of good parenting notwithstanding.
Raising kids with good moral standards is one of the hardest things to do.
Written by: Edward Amah
