Building our tomorrow

The 21st Century has arrived and with it came enormous turbulence prompted by revolutionary advances in a number fields. It includes science, communications and economics.

As the global educational estate probes how these advances could enhance and enrich our lives, we too should buckle down and review significant pillars of society to ensure that its benefits percolate down to the grassroots level. Let’s begin by discussing changes in the role of families here then and now.

I vividly recall how families here have worked together some 20-30 years ago. Indeed, family roles have changed significantly since then. We went from traditional livelihood to wrestling endlessly with the demands of modernity.

For those with small family businesses, kids were expected to help out in the daily operations of filial ventures. After completing homework after school, they head to the store to work on chores until closing time. This is followed by family dinner, homework and a good night’s rest.

For those without family businesses, they head to the farm to help out with clearing, planting and feeding farm animals until dusk. Then they all head home to clean-up, dinner that begins with a prayer, house chores, school work, and, again, family prayer before calling it a night.

So what’s the point?

The family had time together. Most members were introduced by filial patriarchs to strong family values–earning your dues via hard work. Sons spend time working alongside their fathers stacking goods for sale, cleaning shelves, sweeping and mopping the store after closing hours. At the dinner table, the father begins the gathering with a prayer. After dinner, each is expected to do homework and other chores before turning in.

It is the time spent with mom and dad that kept filial unity nurtured, cemented and strengthened time and again. The kids learn the essence of hard work and eventually learn the rewards of earning their dues or stripes. In the long and often difficult journey, they learn and appreciate the value of hard work and all that their parents had struggled for to feed, cloth and ensure a clean and decent family shelter for them.

Today, this traditional filial pillars have slowly but steadily disappeared with time. It brought turbulence to families struggling to understand the demands of modernity.

Most kids no longer spend quality time with their parents. Nurturing family roles are supplanted by synthetic substitutes. It includes at least three to four hours before television screens, viewing the latest videos, new but incomprehensible music fads, among others. Along the way, they (kids) converge with peers to explore “whuzzup” or “what’s cool”.

As negative influences invade and destroy traditional family roles and values, parents are gasping for air in some strange turbulent sea, hoping to find answers to no avail. Indeed, most parents give it their all and usually succeed. Others hand their parental roles over to institutions such as education–teachers, counselors and coaches.

I’m not sure how to deal with kids’ definition of “cool” or “whuzzup”, but somehow, somewhere, with greater sense of parental responsibility and resolve, we all must face the music of parenting and revive firm filial discipline among our children. Do not despair in that kids are basically good people. All they need to have as they grow up is a sense of that mom and dad cares for them. Start today!