Eweso o,

I am coming to you like an Ijebu man this afternoon, asking ‘how are you doing?’ Hope you are doing well. Activities have started gathering momentum here, and I hope it is the same on your own side.

A few weeks ago, I found online a post showing the types of chores a child can be engaged in from age 2. I now remember the daughters of two neighbours of the same age, about 6 years old. One of these can open the gate for her parents to drive out and take care of her siblings when the parents are away, while the second daughter is still at the mercy of a maid. Are we having e-trained children or trained children?

e-Children are children, by my definition, trained in the English language, and the only activity that they understand is how to watch cartoons. Unfortunately, many parents indulge them excessively. They are seen as being young and naive. These children only go to school, and they know no other thing. As such, when unforeseen realities come to the family, they can hardly withstand them. They can also be categorised as ‘egg’ children because of the way they have maids reporting to them by the hour; thus, they are ‘spoilt’ children, and they also become obese. These children become further electronic because their (re)actions would be too abstract and they become liabilities for themselves, their parents, and society.

Trained children are children who have been made responsible from a young age. This responsibility is related to their age and their level of education. They know what their parents want and do not want. These children are equally well-educated as their classmates, but they know the extent to which they can act. Their parents take time to teach, train, and tame them. They are useful to themselves, their parents, and society.

Today, civilisation has produced more e-children than trained children, but you have the opportunity to guard your territory. Whatever you allow in your domain will give you the desired result in the long run.

Besides giving a child everything, you must also train the child very well.