The Family; A Bane Of Ghana’s Development?

The falling standards in moral behaviors leaves most people wondering whether family systems still exist in Ghana. Family which is a group of people who are related to each other especially father, mother and children, is considered to be the roots of every human setting.

As the roots of a tree holds it firm to the ground and provides the necessary nutrients and water to other parts of the tree, so the family is expected to hold its members, nurture them, in order to equip them with good morals. Do we really see the family perform these functions in recent times? In the days of old where family members have a common trait, live in harmony and also reprimand their members, the family was seen as a useful and effective institution in the society.

That kind of love and oneness which existed among family members to the extent that, when a young man gains admission to study abroad, the entire family decides to see him off at the airport, does it still exist? Members of every family should know the various relationship (kinship) that exists between or among them. By knowing this, their roles that they are expected to play within the institution would be identified.

Family systems in Ghana is gradually disintegrating with some anomalies such as corruption, teenage pregnancy, the mode of dressing of the youth etc as evidences. All these would have been prevented or minimized with the existence of a functional family system in Ghana.

Talking about corruption, using your power in a dishonest or illegal way to get an advantage for yourself could be described as corruption. Since we are humans and all humans being fallible, every human being can in one way or the other by corrupt. It is not only a section of people who should be tagged as the corrupt. Corruption can be seen in most of our institutions within societies. Ranging from the family which is the root of all humans, to schools, student bodies, government institutions and some appointees, churches, mosques, shrines etc. some people within the above mentioned institutions with the power they have engage in financial malfeasance, some using inferior goods in manufacturing, some cheating in examinations, and others distributing the national cake unequally among citizens.

The victims of all these crimes belong to some families. And the big question still remains; how and who nurtured them? If the family were to play their role effectively and efficiently I don’t think the country will be in this state. There are sections of society that may be of the view that, these corrupt behaviors were learnt from schools the people attended. But it will be good to know that first group of people who train you are your family members so who then should be blamed?

Another social canker which the family could have averted in some situations is teenage pregnancy. The end product is the young adolescent girls who are now mothers. The number of teenage girls who get pregnant in the country is very alarming. The streets of our societies are littered with young girls carrying protruding bellies around. There existed norms and cultural practices where girls are educated on the time to marry and to even get pregnant. But today, it is either the education is minimal or does not exist at all. The sad thing today is that you will find pro-immoral writers and speakers who will jump to the defense of these young girls in the name of feminism. The Ghana education service factored sex education which includes adolescent reproductive health into the curriculum of schools ( Junior high and Senior high schools ) to help enlighten students in order to prevent teenage pregnancy in the country. But it can be said that, this isn’t yielding much results because of the number of teenage pregnancy cases that were recorded some years back and in recent times.

The statistics below represents the number of teenage pregnancy cases recorded in Ghana captured in the 2010 population and housing census.

Table 5.7
AGE GROUP
BIRTHS
PERCENTAGE
12 – 14
917
0.1
15 – 19
40,304
6.5
Source: Ghana statistical service; 2013

Putting the two teenage groups together, it means the country recorded 41,221 cases of teenage pregnancy in the country at the time the survey was conducted.

After some three years, there was another survey that was conducted and published in the year 2014. It showed the number of teenagers that were pregnant within the last twelve months and those pregnant at the time the survey was conducted.

Pregnant within the last 12 months ( last 12 months of the time the survey was cconducted )

URBAN
RURAL
TOTAL
NUMBER
1.6 %
4.9%
3.1%
45,173
Currently pregnant ( ie. The time the survey was conducted )

URBAN
RURAL
TOTAL
NUMBER
1.6%
2.6%
1.7%
24,888
Source: Ghana living standards survey

Round six (6)
August 2014.
Summing up the two figures ( 45,173 + 24,888 ), it means that the country recorded 70,061 three years of the 2010 population and housing census was conducted. There was therefore more than a fifty percent increase in the teenage pregnancy cases in the country. These figures clearly show that, the family is really not leaving up to expectation.

Christ admonished us in the Book of Proverbs 22:6 that, we should train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. The big question is, how are our families training their young ones?

The shabby and un-decent way of dressing has drastically crept into the apparel-makeup of most people especially the youth. They blindly emulate the dressing styles of some “celebrities” or some people they look up to. We have our own culture as a people that needs to be maintained and protected and not rejected, for any foreign culture. It is the responsibility of every family to nurture its young ones in such direction.

There have been numerous criticisms being raised at the Ghana institute of journalism for banning miniskirts and shorts in these few weeks but what I believe is that if the families of the agitated students were performing their responsibilities to the fullest, there wouldn’t have been any need for management to step in to sanitize modes of dressing. The problem is a fundamental one and not something that is wholly influenced by media or foreign cultures as some critics may want to put to.

It is very much prudent to note that how you dress, will determine how you will be addressed.

However, since families are the preliminary schools we attend before any other formal school, more is expected of them in building a healthy, responsible and robust society.