GROOMING CHILDREN INTO IMMORALITY

In Nigeria, we have well behaved, well mannered and morally upright children but ironically, we have terrible, corrupt, immoral and mannerless adults.

This is because in Nigerian homes, children are subconsciously taught that good behaviours are for children while bad behaviours are for adults.

For instance, when we see children engage in immoral sexual acts, we decry their age, not the act. Making the children understand that all they need to do is grow up so they too can start doing it.

When a child lies, the parents will beat the living day light out of him, yet the parents and older siblings lie effortlessly in his presence. Sometimes, they contract him to lie on their behalf by saying such things as, "my daddy is not around" when daddy is seated in the sitting room reading newspapers.
This tells them that lying is not the problem. They just have to grow up first.

When school children are caught in exam malpractice, they are either failed, penalized, suspended or expelled, but in their korokoro eyes, their teachers, lecturers, principals, vice chancellors are seen committing malpractices of all kinds both in and outside the academic environment. Infact, after school, their parents with the help of their lecturers and others will use money to buy jobs for them.
Telling them that there's really nothing with malpractices and corruption. They just have to grow up first.

You teach the child not to fight in school but you not only fight at home but also go to his school to fight teachers 🤷🏾‍♂️. Telling them that all they need to do is to grow up, so they can fight too.

You teach them to greet elders and respect people but you are not in talking terms with your siblings.

You instruct them not to stay out late but you come back whenever you feel like. Telling them that all they need to do is to grow up first.

Simply put, we teach children morals we can't keep, thereby making them feel that the morals are for children, thereby always ensuring that the next generation is always going to be worse than the one before it.

Until we treat what my school principal call Adult Delinquency, become responsible adults and teach children more with our actions than with words, we will continue to groom children into immorality.