THAT THE NEGLECT OF OUR CULTURAL VALUES HAS IMMENSELY CONTRIBUTED TO INDISCIPLINE AMONG TODAY’S YOUTH. Mr. chairman, panel of adjudicators, the time keeper, teachers and headmasters present, co debaters, ladies and gentlemen, we have a serious motion before us that brings to the floor a serious topic that is of much interest to every stake holder of our time. That the neglect of our cultural values has contributed immensely to indiscipline among the youth. As the principal speaker against the motion, I shall for the sake of our debate and time, define the borders of the Debate and confine it to the school. The causes of indiscipline can be divided into two groups, causes within school and causes outside school and It must be noted that each of these causes immensely contribute to indiscipline in the youth therefore the temptation to dwell on one particular cause as the most affecting cause must be overcome. The first speaker has already defined the motion, that notwithstanding, The chair, ladies and gentlemen, lets answer these questions to enable us trace the line of argument. 1. Is there indiscipline in the youth? If no, then there is no need for us to be here but since you and I are here, it means we admit the fact that there is evidence of indiscipline amongst the youth. So yes! there is evidence of indiscipline amongst the youth. If so, 2. What then are the causes? Our opponents are dwelling on a said neglect of our cultural values to make their case but the chair, after my exposition, you will realize that even if there is a neglect of our cultural values, it has not in any way gendered indiscipline amongst the youth. 3. Have we neglected our cultural values? We against the motion are saying No! We haven’t, because our opponents cannot prove their case but rather what has been left out of our indigenous culture are the negative aspects of our culture such as the trokosi, cruel widowhood rights and FGM. Ladies and gentlemen, culture is dynamic therefore as J.A Kufuor puts it, “our culture is going through transition and these transitions take the form of omissions and additions ” so I see no reason why we should misconstrue this transition for a neglect. This implies that though there are omissions now, those are natural thing that every culture goes through. Therefore, it cannot be argued that a neglect of our cultural values has resulted in indiscipline among the youth. 4. Have the part of our cultural values that have been subtracted caused any indiscipline? I am still waiting to be convinced as to how the abandonment of cruel practices such as FGM and trokosi can lead to indiscipline. These have nothing to do with indiscipline. The bottom line is this: although there have been subtractions in our culture, it is a natural thing every culture goes through and these subtractions must not be misconstrued as neglect and therefore has not in anyway contributed to indiscipline among the youth. 5. Is there any culture or group of people anywhere in the world in which indiscipline doesn’t abound? Indiscipline is an inherent trait in every culture moreover even when the said culture was at its peak, indiscipline was here and shall remain with us till the rapture takes place. Even the Holy Bible acknowledges this in Rom.3:23 that all have sinned and indiscipline is part of sin, therefore one cannot and must not say that the neglect of our cultural values has immensely contributed to the indiscipline amongst the youth. Having established my case, let me show you the real causes of the canker of indiscipline that has eaten up the youth. WITHIN THE SCHOOL. 1. Visiting teachers like service personnel. In a case where the teacher handling the lesson is a supply teacher and so is not recognised by the learners as a figure of authority, indiscipline may prevail. Also the supply teacher may not know the individual names of the pupils - this may give certain kids the excuse to ignore the teacher while he/she is attempting to communicate with them (it is indiscipline for learners to ignore their teacher.). 2. If the teacher is foreign and cannot speak good English - the pupils can make fun of their teacher if he doesn’t seem to have a good control of the language of instruction. There may be giggles and fun making during the lesson and this is indiscipline. 3. The teacher may be late and so the first few minutes of the lesson were spent in an environment devoid of the basic classroom rules. This bad foundation for the lesson makes pupils more prone to rebellious behavior. And these points Mr. chairman are the leading causes of indiscipline according to the GES communiqué issued during the GNAT youth week celebrated at Somanya recently. Nowhere, I repeat, nowhere was the neglect of cultural values mentioned as a leading cause of indiscipline. Except may be my opponents just want to make a mountain out of an ant hill. Let me give you more. 4. Its the last lesson of the day. For any teacher, such a time of the day to teach is generally a misfortune. In anticipation of the end of the day, pupils take less care over their work and may lose commitment, as thoughts turn to what they have to do after the lesson like going to deal with an angry girlfriend or seeing a new catch. 5. Of course the standard of discipline is likely to go down even further if a lengthy holiday awaits the end of a Friday afternoon lesson. 6. Poor teaching. Usually a teacher who makes more of an effort to connect with the pupils is more likely to gain their attention. But reading in a monotone from a text book before telling the pupils to get on with some task in their books is just asking for the paper planes to take flight and shouting across the classroom. If a teacher does not know his subject well according to prof. Naana Jane Opoku, “there is no way he won’t meet indiscipline, he will meet it in red and gold and green with a black star on the forehead of his students.” 7. Another cause is an Outnumbered class or overcrowded class. It becomes quite difficult to control a very large class. “Teaching is a tough job and giving the teacher student ratio in our country one should expect nothing but an increase in indiscipline” says prof. E.N Abaka, UEW campus lens. Mr. chairman, these are simply managerial and pedagogical issues and have nothing to do with the neglect of our cultural values. 8. Some people are inherently indiscipline. According to Tim Lahaye, a temperament author and preacher, some people such as the phlegmatic and the sanguine are naturally indiscipline. This has nothing to do with cultural neglect. My opponents should check themselves up and come again probably after we have been adjudged winners of this debate. 9. Amongst higher ability groups, certain pupils may think that they know more than the teacher and their colleagues so they misbehave because if the teacher comes up to ask them a question about the topic under discussion, they would answer without a problem so they misbehave, without feeling any incentives to do the work. 10. Negative relations between pupils. There may also be unwelcome incidents that could occur between pupils at any time, causing tempers to occasionally flare. As you can probably guess, such emotions are likely to somewhat dim the awareness of school disciplines for the pupil(s) in question. Judge for yourselves, have these got anything to do with cultural values and neglect? Look! Even my opponents are responding admiringly. Do we need to continue this debate all? Well for formality sake, we shall proceed but we are winning anyway since our judges are very fair and loving. CAUSES OUTSIDE SCHOOL; this may possibly include the following: 1. The parents of pupils may have no interest in education and so this encourages their children to assume a similar attitude; provoking, rebellious behavior. Has a cultural abandonment got anything to do with this? You are the cause of your own problems. According to professor Kwakuvi Azasu, a senior lecturer at the university of education, “the attitude of a parent largely affects their wards’ conducts in public and in school.” Just as the saying goes like father, like son. A crab can never birth a bird. Period and these issues ladies and gentlemen, have nothing to do with neglect of cultural values. They are simply pedagogical issues. 2. Youths that are abused at home will definitely be indiscipline. Research has proven that children from broken homes tend to be more indiscipline than those from homes where the couple stay together. Daily graphic, Monday sixth January 2014, according to Harriet Baidoo, “children run away from home because of broken homes”. Why talk of the neglect of culture when all you have to do is to set the home right. Or is it only Ghanaian culture that encourages parents to stay together? After all, what is a pupil who is mistreated at home more likely to be thinking about, will he be thinking of what's the formula for the circumference of a circle or, will my dad get drunk again tonight and threaten me with that knife? To such Pupils, being tough is the way to survive at home, so why should they think otherwise when they turn up at school? According to Peter Kofi Afful a Lecturer at Pentecost University and the University of Education, “people are products of circumstances and the environment.” This implies that, what you see more and experience is what makes you. Joel Osteen says “you are the product of your words.” In effect, a student who hears profane words everyday will definitely produce such words most of the time. Why blame this on neglect of cultural values? Change your thinking, change your mind! 3. Home life for some might involve being overindulged by parents where they are criticized and harshly reprimanded any time they go wrong so they expect the same when they come to school. And these are the causes of indiscipline. Neglect of cultural values has nothing at all to do with this!. 4. Again in the domestic context, pupils may not ever have been set clear boundaries at home therefore they are not used to rules and regulations so its only natural that they are going to find abiding by a whole set of new rules at school a suffocating prospect which limits their usual freedom immeasurably. 5. The Ghanaian community is made of people from different cultures in which what is discipline in one may not be in another, so why then accuse the neglect of cultural values as the cause? In sum, though certain aspects of the Ghanaian culture have been omitted, we have not neglected the values because the values are still present with us, and though there is evidence of indiscipline in our youths, different factors have contributed to this indiscipline and we cannot and must not associate it with neglect of cultural values. So soon, I have brought my address to a close but I am glad our judges, dressed so beautifully and beaming with smiles will adjudge us the winner of this year’s debate. Thank you. (THIS IS A RESERVE SCRIPT)