The Effects of Globalization on the Ghanaian Child

The question of globalization, and its effect on the youth of Ghana, has been lingering on my mind since the recently ended Ghana’s Most Beautiful Reality Show. This is a beauty and cultural pageant with the aim of promoting as well as educating the youth on the culture and traditions of the ten regions of Ghana. On the show, contestants are expected to display Ghanaian culture at its best as well as speak the various parlances from the regions. As part of the show, these ladies enact various cultural and traditional practices like naming ceremonies, marriages, funerals as well as various festivals from the regions.

I ponder over the issue of globalization whenever I switch channels and see the abovementioned show, which leads me to the question: Are the children we are raising in the 21st century going to be able to stand on stage some 15 years from now and display the kind of culture that the young adults of today are showcasing? My question, of course, stems from a few personal observations.

First, is the issue of language. I have a problem with parents who speak English with their children at home. Of course, with the surge in intermarriages which I personally encourage, some families may be forgiven for the lack of local language commonality, and knowing that neither parent necessarily understands the other's local dialect, the obvious choice will be English. That notwithstanding, one parent can take it upon himself or herself to teach these children one of the parental languages.

Some families of which both parents come from the same region and speak the same local language choose to speak what I call adulterated English at home, because they claim their children wouldn’t speak the local dialects. I have heard parents speak all "versions" of the English language, which they call "home English" (home English is the literal translation of vernacular into English), and it is the worst grammar you can find!

Some of these parents, from personal observation, are really not very well-educated. An example is a lady who roasts plantains at the corner of the road near my house. I once stopped by to purchase some roasted plantains and saw her engaged in a conversation with her child, who was not more than 5 years old. It was obvious from the uniform the child wore that he had just returned from school; they were speaking English, which the mother was evidently struggling with. So I asked why she was struggling to speak English with her child instead of their local dialect. She responded by saying that the child wouldn’t speak the local dialect. I told her that in order for her to continue speaking the English language with her child, she needed to improve on her own English, otherwise, in the near future, the child would embarrass her by correcting her in public.

Also, I once witnessed a situation where a friend who works in "Corporate Ghana" chose to speak the so-called "home English" with his children, even though both parents were Ga. While I was engaged in a conversation with the lady of the home, one of the kids addressed a question to their mother, which the adult chose to answer in "home English." Guess what? The child embarrassed her mother by correcting her mom’s grammar right in my presence. In fact, I was so embarrassed that I wished the ground had opened up to hide me from the deafening silence that erupted soon after. I had to just take a deep breath and continue with my conversation like nothing had happened! I will be quick to say that this comment is not to slander anybody, but just to make a point that we should encourage our children to speak our local dialects, and if we choose to speak the English language with them for whatever reason, then we as parents should speak proper English to avoid the kind of embarrassment that my friend had to endure. As a parent myself, I’m proud to say that as much as I attended a school where we were encouraged to speak the Queen's English, my two children both speak Ga. Sadly and with great embarrassment, I will confess that, while my 8-year-old can read Ga, I’m unable to read or write the mother tongue.

Yes, my younger child who happened to have started school rather early didn’t want to speak Ga at all – this is the same excuse I hear from most parents. In my case I pretended one weekend that I didn’t understand anything in English and so whenever my son spoke to me in English, I responded in Ga, a move that encouraged him to converse in Ga. As we all know, children are quick to learn, so by the time the weekend was over, my 6- year-old had come to love speaking Ga, and he speaks it well even now. It took a conscious effort, however, to achieve what I had set out to do.

The second issue is food. We as 21st-century parents are bringing up our children on fast- food, with the excuse of not having adequate time. If we continue to teach our children what I call the “chicken-and-chips" culture, we are going to end up with children who do not eat local dishes, and therefore cannot even pound fufu or cook kenkey, but will be quick to run to the fast-food joint for some chicken and chips. Parents are making excuses that their homes are far from work and therefore are caught in traffic for hours and do not get home early to do the cooking. Especially in this age where both parents have to work to make ends meet, I can relate to that, but I don’t think it is a tangible excuse, since I am a working mother myself.

When I was a child, I remember my mother would do all her cooking on Saturdays and would make sure that I stood by her in the kitchen to cut onions, peel tomatoes and chop Kontomire, amongst other chores. By the time I was 9 years old, I was ready to cook my first dish; I have grown to love cooking as a result. I find myself today dragging my daughter away from her books on Saturdays when I cook for the week. I realized I was doing her a disservice by not encouraging her, so now we spend a couple of hours together cooking on Saturdays. The point is that I’m not going to spend the whole day in the kitchen cooking anyway, so taking a couple of hours off her weekend playtime to help in the kitchen and around the home will not make her retrogress academically, especially in this age where almost all parents have extra tutoring organized for their kids. I think we must make the extra effort to raise children who benefit from an all- round upbringing, and not just academics. The truth is that the Home Economics class in school is not enough to teach our children all they need to know at home. I think we as parents should try to do our part in raising children who will grow up to be adults we can be proud of.

In this age, Ghanaian movies depict on set hotdogs being served for dinner, instead of some ampesi and Kontomire. It is appalling how we sit back and allow our own culture to fade away. I have seen a few Ghanaian movies and I will want to take this opportunity to applaud movie producers for doing a god job at improving the quality of movies coming from Ghana. I’m not a movie editor and therefore may not be in a position to do a professional critique of movies and what goes into them. However, I rather get disappointed after observing certain depictions in these movies. If we, as Ghanaians, aim at projecting our culture in the movies, why do we choose to serve hotdogs for dinner instead of some local dish? How about replacing those business suits with corporate outfits made from Woodin or ATL? How about a trendy pair of shorts and a top made in Ghana? We parade these things on runways during fashion shows with the aim of promoting Ghanaian fabrics and fashion. Why then can we not make them applicable in our movies and music videos? Why can’t our movie producers employ the services of designers like Kofi Ansah and Nora Bannerman, to name a few, who already design for our runways, to design garments that fit the scripts in Ghanaian movies to project our culture? After all, we as Ghanaians need to play our role in saving the dying textile industries in Ghana. Again, we see Ghanaian movies titled Beyonce, why not Ama, or Akorfa? Why should it be Beyonce?

In a discussion with a young lady friend, who is probably in her early twenties, on the issue of globalization and its effects, she commented that globalization in itself is a good thing because it promotes trade liberalization and education. Today, due to the Internet, one can sit in Accra and acquire a degree from major universities around the world without being physically there. Today, due to the Ecowas treaty, nationals of member states can travel within the sub-region in pursuit of business with much more ease than it was some twenty years ago. Also one can sit behind a PC in Accra and transact business in China with ease.

However, globalization also comes with its downsides, my friend commented. Globalization has affected culture and lifestyle, as I have already mentioned above. Socially, I think we are picking up more of the negatives of globalization than we are the positives. Some of these are the rise in the use of illegal drugs, profane language and crime, just to name a few. The global teacher, which is the Television set, is causing us to lose our identity in the way we dress, the way we cook and even the way we speak. I hear there is now what is called LAFA (Locally Acquired Foreign Accent). Oh dear, you should hear some of these so called “in-ladies” speak LAFA! This is most unfortunate and we the parents of our generation will have to take it upon ourselves to put in place some damage-control procedures and discipline to save our young ones.

In this age where the use of the cane has been abolished in some schools, we as parents need to find ways of disciplining our children. By this statement I’m not attempting to speak for the reinstatement of corporal punishment in schools. I think that comes with its own pros and cons and we could look at that issue in another write-up. What I’m attempting to say is that globalization exposes our young ones too soon to some challenges that we did not have to deal with in our formative years. Today, my 6-year- old watches advertisements of condoms and sanitary pads on television and, as a parent, I must answer her questions, such as: “Mom, what’s that?"

Nowadays, you turn on the news and it’s about the cocaine trade, homosexuality, pedophilia, "sakawa" and armed robbery, just to name a few. Our children are exposed to so much filth that sometimes I sit back and wonder what goes on in their little minds. The question on my mind as a parent then is: How do we find time in this day and age, where both parents are struggling to climb the corporate ladder, to give our young ones a better future and quality upbringing? Parents are caught at work for long hours trying to meet deadlines. How do we spend quality time with our children as well as protect them from the lessons of the global teacher – the television – that may have lessons which some of our children may be too young to learn?

We as parents of this generation must make our children our priority in order to build a better Ghana. Today’s child is tomorrow's adult and we need to secure their future and culture by giving them all-round education and discipline.

The writer Naa Wellington, is just a concerned citizen of Ghana who can be reached at naawellington@ymail.com