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 [email protected]
Ghana / Africa / Modernghana.com