A child is a gift from God. Fortunate parents who God has granted the privilege of having children should in their best knowledge and strength, train up the child in a way pleasing to God. The Oxford Advance Learners’ Dictionary 8th Edition define a child as a young human who is not yet an adult. It defines upbringing as the way in which a child is cared for and taught how to behave while it is growing up”. Child upbringing is the way young human is taught how to behave while it is growing up.
Proverbs is one of the biblical books that stated how a child should be trained. In Proverbs 22:6 it says “train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it”. It is believed that a child first classroom is the home of the child. Activities carried out and speeches spoken in the child presence should be done with caution. Parents/guardians or anybody in position should not make use of words that portray irresponsibility or abusive words while addressing a child. This is crucial because a child is very good in imitating whatever he/she hears and sees as this will create a lasting memory in the life of the child.
There is another interesting passage in the Bible which states “Spare the rod and spoil the child”. Good number of children who have grown into irresponsible adults are as a result of this. If a child does something wrong, instead of the parents to correct the child with the rod, they will come up with the flimsy excuse that the child is still a baby, when he grows up or they will say the child is the only one we have, if beaten may lead to death of the baby. What a trash?
Certainly, the environment in which a child grows up is very important since environment has a way of influencing greatly in the life of a child either positively and negatively. It is not advisable to raise a child in an environment surrounded with badly behaved and arrogant persons. Some behaviours are against the morals and standards of the society which the child should not be a victim. If a child grows up in a hostility driven environment such child will in one way of the other be a product of his/her environment thereby becoming a terror to people around him. What a shattered destiny?
In the formative years of a child, parents should look out for the kind of movies their children do watch, a child is not meant to watch pornographically driven movies. Such movies have bad effect on the child. As a growing child he/she needs to be exposed to movies that is educative love, good morals, how to relate with people within and outside the environment and most importantly movies that will educate him/her on how to live a life pleasing to God.
Furthermore, it is worthy to note that exposure of a child to be actively involved in spiritual activities like bible study, teaching the child how to pray, how to evangelize, sing praises and worship is important. Funny enough, I have seen children who could not recite the popular scriptures amongst children like “Our Lord’s Prayer”, Psalm 23 and John 3:16. How can the Christian foundation be solid when these essentials are lacking?
The type of pictures the child views is another aspect that should be given proper consideration. Images either good or bad create a lasting memory in the mind of a child. This is one of the reasons why books meant for nursery and primary school pupils are designed with colourful images that portray creativity and biblical stories. Whatever is fixed in the mind of the child last for a long time if not life time. Parents should in their own way make sure that their children views the right thing that contributes in character moulding.
Respect is another quality that should be inculcated in the life of a child. A child should be taught to have the golden rule at the back of his/her mind while he/she is growing up. The rule states that “treat others the way you want them to treat you”. A child should be taught on how to show respect to older persons, to show respect to sacred things as well having the fear of God.
In my sincere opinion, a child from a very tender age should be taught the dos and don’ts of life which helps in moulding character of the child. If a child is not given adequate training at home, it affects every area of the child’s life therebforesending dangerous signal to the public. A stitch in time saves nine.###
Blessing Okoro
