A few incidents of recent got me and a colleague of mine discussing about courtesy and respect in children.
We were walking on a pathway when some school kids who could have passed for between 13 and 15 walked towards us. None of them broke their stride as they walked and almost pushed us off the pathway.
My colleague and I looked at each other and shook our heads. And we wondered if courtesy and respect still existed in children of the new generation?
We relived memories of our past when courtesy and respect was a value entrenched in us by our parents. It did not matter if you were Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo, Calabar, Fulani etc. Courtesy and respect was a universal language we all understood because we were taught.
The second incident happened when I was alone. I was walking a path that had been reduced from a two-way path to a one-way path by a barrier.
I saw these two little girls of about ages 6 or 8 walking from the opposite end. I stopped and waited so they could pass by.
I was surprised when instead of passing through quickly, they strolled towards me gisting away.
When they got to where I was standing, I told them ‘next time when someone stops for you so you can pass by, you make it snappy’.
Even though they were little girls, the part of me where home training is embedded did not make me believe that I had a right to pass through before them.
But the question that kept ringing was; has home training taken a back seat in our homes?
Have the new generation parents thrown away the values we were taught as kids instead of passing it down?
I am a new generation parent and sincerely, home training is still very important to me.
Or am I old school?
Please share your thoughts below and let us have a conversation.
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