i haven't wrriten in a while...clearly, the country has fallen into even lower depths of disrepair that its difficult to pick any single subject to write on. plus, the rains have made it even worse...and all the wedding bells tolling around me can't have helped my mood either.
so yesterday i was on my way home and running through the radio stations (really boring programming these days, i tell you), when i kept bumping into the "children's day" ads of varying degrees. each time i hear something about children's day, i'd stop to listen, in the vain hope that someone somewhere actually realizes that the day was set aside for adults to slow down and pay attention to kids around them...not a day to make parents feel guilty enough to be extorted all in the name of "making the children happy".
it was grinding to listen to the pathetic presenters announing one new party or the other where kids stand to win great prizes if their parents buy them something or the other...unfortunately, each announcement ended with the "make your kids happy" slogan. sickening.
i would expect, that at this day and age where the internet has bridged the gap in the human psyche, nigerians would have learnt that there is a lot that the human offspring requires beyond one more lolipop (does that even still exist?) and one more party.
for children's day, i would have appreciated some statistics on infant mortality rates for the past year and to know what the government is doing about it...i would have loved to hear the nigerian medical association come out to announce some breakthrough in medical science that cures a child-prone ailment...it would have made sense to hear an invitiation to mothers to meet and discuss ways of handling male-child truancy between the ages of 3 and 10. There are countless areas that affect a child's life, that if parents could truly devote the 24 hours of children's day towards sharing real information about child care, the child would be better for it, and the parents would feel less guilty about not spending enough time at home.
i can only hope that all my friends who are getting married now, and should bring forth the next generation of the human race, will face the music and change the concept of children's day for good.
happy children's day everyone, please remember the orphans.
so yesterday i was on my way home and running through the radio stations (really boring programming these days, i tell you), when i kept bumping into the "children's day" ads of varying degrees. each time i hear something about children's day, i'd stop to listen, in the vain hope that someone somewhere actually realizes that the day was set aside for adults to slow down and pay attention to kids around them...not a day to make parents feel guilty enough to be extorted all in the name of "making the children happy".
it was grinding to listen to the pathetic presenters announing one new party or the other where kids stand to win great prizes if their parents buy them something or the other...unfortunately, each announcement ended with the "make your kids happy" slogan. sickening.
i would expect, that at this day and age where the internet has bridged the gap in the human psyche, nigerians would have learnt that there is a lot that the human offspring requires beyond one more lolipop (does that even still exist?) and one more party.
for children's day, i would have appreciated some statistics on infant mortality rates for the past year and to know what the government is doing about it...i would have loved to hear the nigerian medical association come out to announce some breakthrough in medical science that cures a child-prone ailment...it would have made sense to hear an invitiation to mothers to meet and discuss ways of handling male-child truancy between the ages of 3 and 10. There are countless areas that affect a child's life, that if parents could truly devote the 24 hours of children's day towards sharing real information about child care, the child would be better for it, and the parents would feel less guilty about not spending enough time at home.
i can only hope that all my friends who are getting married now, and should bring forth the next generation of the human race, will face the music and change the concept of children's day for good.
happy children's day everyone, please remember the orphans.
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