CANDOR’S DONE A RUNNER!

Teacher’s Diary

Candor being the noun and Candid its adjective, are traits dwindling by the day all around us. Candor refers to being sincere, forthright, open, regretful, confessional, and desirous of making up or correcting an error, trustworthiness, remorseful…, and the list is endless of like behaviours.

Why this has become so scarce all around us is what begs for a serious revisit of the values we care to pass down to children of below the age of five. Why this age group you may ask? Because even under 10s these days relentlessly lie, defying sticking to their stories, repeatedly behave street-wisely.

Purely from personal experiences, having taught children of this group for a number of years in the past, being with them until twilight when their parents picked them up, and therefore knowing that those are the crucial formative years of an individual’s life, hope is not lost, the present decline of candor in Nigeria is reversible.Between the age of 0-5 (may well stretch to 8), the foundations of cognitive, social, emotional, psychological and physical development of a child are set.

Things are more difficult at 12 for instance, 12/13 being the most impressionable period of an individual.A good teacher and parent should be packing in loads of teaching opportunities to ferment quality learning during this time. Toys, role-play, modelling and story are a few ways to teach them at this time. Personally I have never toyed with the power of carefully chosen toys. TOYS ARE US!! Toys ‘r’ Us!!Two children the one a 5 and the other a 6+ year old were playing down below.

I was 3 flats above them, and heard most of their entire conversation. The older described how her mum,​ at the end of the day, has been asking for the money she’s gathered during the day. Mum goes on to keep these in a piggy bank for her. Mum tells her the ability to pilfer are strengths, not theft, and only show how smart she is becoming. So mum tells her, in the Nigerian mantra, a phase that has come to stay, to “shine your eyes”.And so this little girl-child shared that she cleverly steals from teacher’s bag, from other children’s lunch packs, feigns hunger and lack to get donations of other’s lunches, and professed proudly that she has still not been caught.Is this new? No. Is this common? Yes. Is this proper? No.

I am privy to countless experiences of people playing smart and ripping others of computers, money begged for fabricated needs and diverted to build their own houses, bills inflated because labourers feel you have limitless funds…and the list is endless.What is particularly sad about children hardened this way, is that they grow up wired to see candor as surreal. Can something rectifiable be done, yes? By whom? Teachers, parents, you and I.

Omoru is a freelance writer, education, health and social care advocate