Madam Oheneba Mercy Akosua Yeboah, a counselor and an expert in child development, has stated that limits exist in society and people are aware of such safety precautions.
She said during a panel discussion about the beginning of indiscipline in senior high schools, that discipline while growing up, was a method to live within one’s rights and show respect. She claimed that limits were then established in families, churches, classrooms, and society at large.
She said that everyone was aware that once they crossed the lines, they would get into trouble.
“So, things are already changed but we have our existing culture and because of organizations, we have imported some form of foreign cultures. In society, if there is no discipline, we would be amiss. So yes, we still gave rules that guide us and we haven’t thrown our hands in the air yet. And so, we will have boundaries.
“It’s not new, it is the way that we look at it or complain about it or the way to handle it that makes the difference. So, boundaries still exist and the people know there are boundaries.”
Madam Oheneba Mercy Akosua Yeboah
When asked if there was a difference between indiscipline then and now, Madam Akosua Yeboah responded that whatever was done in the past that was deemed wrong, is still bad today. She mentioned language use, saying that any child who used derogatory words would still receive criticism from their peers, pointing out that technology and modernity were the only reasons why things have changed.
Moreover, she claimed that the change is simply the result of immigrant culture being absorbed into society, something that had not been done correctly. Yet, she said that it was manageable as long as people worked together. “So, it is the responsibility that certain people are shirking,” she opined.
Nevertheless, she said that she would be concerned if she raised a kid who was afraid to speak up for himself.
“No one is telling you not to protest. So yes, complain but use the right language. Why would you call an elderly person a fool and use indecent languages on an elderly person? So yes, make your protest whiles using polite language. You know these days, when the children call me that ‘Hey Mom, what’s up? I’m okay because I know it is now their language but I know they wouldn’t cross the boundaries.
“Sometimes we need to accept the things as long as they don’t cross boundaries. When they are crossing boundaries, let them know they are crossing boundaries. Who taught these children to use such languages when speaking to elderly people?”
Madam Oheneba Mercy Akosua Yeboah
Indiscipline And Boundaries Always Existed
Prof. Joseph Danquah, a Professor of Management and a Counselor, also said on the same panel that indiscipline and boundaries have always existed.
According to him, discipline entailed being aware of the limits so that one did not violate them, adding that discipline included listening to parents or teachers and doing what they recommended. “Boundaries always existed. There has always been indiscipline, it varies,” he averred.
“That is what we are raising them to be because there is a duality tension at play. The tension between tradition and modernity; this tension keeps going on. So now, the modernity has a particularly powerful ingredient and that is technology and the internet. These days things go viral easily and so, with these types of contests where technology is shifting, it makes things difficult to keep the traditional boundaries.”
Prof. Joseph Danquah
While the society wants to modernize, the professor claimed that some of its traditional values are being diminished. He stated, “For example, we tend to emphasize more on speaking English more than our traditional language and so, all these things are slowly chipping away our traditional values.”
He asserted that modernity made it simple to change the traditional values that are the foundation of the Ghanaian people. Furthermore, he said that a lot of individuals “brofolize” everything, instead of speaking their native tongues, which according to him, weakened what distinguished one as a Ghanaian.
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