WHICH PARENT WILL YOU BECOME? MAXWELL GAVI VOLTA When it comes to how short or tall we appear, traces have been made to genetic factors that offspring inherit from their parents. Zeroing in on this premise, it is palpable that our parents have great roles to perform with regards our intellectual and physical growth. But, what children receive from their parents per their intellectual and physical growth leaves much to be desired. To say that it is bad will be an understatement, it is totally chaotic, barbaric and dehumanising. This is more than meets the eyes of a common man, hence it calls for paradigm shift. Basically, there are two great categories of parents in our modern society. The one category that creates such mischief, penury, misery, chaos and curse and could unanimously be called devil incarnates. This category of parents litters the environment with children and blame their family and the government for their own created plight. They have a common trait. They actually depict and prove beyond all reasonable doubts that indeed humans belong to the kingdom Animalia. Their character traits differ in no respect to that of agama lizards, dogs, goats and cattle. The female reminisces the agama lizards. Objectively speaking, if one surreptitiously observes agama lizards about to lay eggs, lizards only dig hole and lay the eggs in and leave the eggs to their fate regardless of them being highly susceptible to predators. The warm sand will hatch the eggs and the offspring comes out to face the harsh conditions of this weird world and this huge transcendental event called life. They are to fend for themselves since their parents forgot where they kept their eggs. This is highly ubiquitous as it pertains to our mothers. The root cause is when these ‘undeserved mothers’ struggle to either pinpoint the fathers or the so called-fathers decline the responsibility, because the child came to the world out of wedlock. Isn’t it strange to hear or see babies being put in rubber bags and dumped near the gutters or placed in front of public toilets? The worst of all is the fathers. They represent the worst type of animals per child nurturing. They can be compared to goats, dogs, and donkeys. Again, if one watched billy goats in the countryside chasing a nanny goat on heat, they usually move in groups of three or four. As the mating continued, one billy goat will gain dominance over activities at that joyous moment and leave others at disadvantages. The rest unfortunate billy goats will hallucinate, bleat and circumrotate in a winding gyre while the fortunate goat engrossed in a sporadic spurt of orgasm until it is tired. Being greedy and self-aggrandising, on seeing others yapping and snapping in its face attempts a second round. During this uphill task, the billy goat thinks it is the only goat in the world at the material moment. Indeed, this kind of man lived aptly well with animals and behaved as such. Like cocks, goats and dogs, the man shrinks his responsibilities for the young ones he procreated. Because, these parents do not accept any responsibility of the young ones they procreate, the little resources they have are spent lavishly in drinking bars. Both men and women leave their children to their fate and get addicted to alcohol and hard drugs. They drink alcohol more than fish drink water and smoke like chimney. I wonder if they do not know the effects of smoking. Smoking destroys ones health by making you short of breath, it dirties one and one’s environment. It gives those who smoke stale smell. Mostly, there is a medical evidence that smoking causes fatal illness, causes certain birth defects, it destroys one’s psyche and physique. Smoking is akin to frying one’s brain which eventually kills one’s brain cells. Practically, it is just a means of damaging one’s pocket. It is just a way of pushing oneself into the clutches of abject poverty. Does it then mean that these reckless parents do not know that they are watching millions of cedis go up in smoke? So why do they smoke? There may be two possible absurd reasons. Some do it when they are sad or happy and others think it is a sign of being grown up. How daft! Stupid indeed! There are only two moments in ones live – happy moments and sad moments. So when one gets intoxicated by drugs and alcoholic drink because he claims to be elated or happy and he again smokes and drinks in stormy circumstances, what then is one doing to one’s body? One actually forgets his problem when totally intoxicated, but as soon as one gets out of the clutches of these opium, the problem repeats itself and tend to be more severe. The big question is when will one live without these opium and beverages? When will one stop it? The children of these reckless parents naturally face perils and destitution due to the uncouth, uncultured behaviours and reckless parental traits. Their talents suffer harnessing, their psychological and physical growth is hampered. Those who smiled to fortune by dint of grace to have the chance to eat in canteen and stain the classroom blocks with urine, their minds have become thorny and rocky ground on which their educator’s seed refuse to germinate. The unfortunate ones, where lies the fate of these children? Where will they barricade themselves against nightfall? Where will they enclose themselves against torrential night rain? Will they continue to forever live in live pain and agony? Is it worth their fault? Why should destiny be cruel to them? The other category of parents is the one that creates harmony, nourishment and hope. This category of parents could unanimously be called as vicars of God. They take charge of the young ones they procreate. Like the angels and archangels, they are at the beck and call of their children, they provide entirely the basic psychological and physiological needs of their children, they see to their children’s moral conduct. If it is true that humans belong to the kingdom Animalia, then this category of parents can aptly be equated to the marsupial. Like the marsupial carries its baby in a pouch, the female parents of this category also carry their young ones and place them at times in a crib, protect them against every stormy weather. Their male counterparts differ not, they behave just like the male eagles do. Examining carefully the genesis of the amorous relation between eagles, the female eagle takes the male eagle through a herculean task to ascertain its caring prowess. Tactfully, the female eagle flies high in the sky in anticipation that the male will follow. When it follows, the female eagle drops one of its feathers. As the feather falls, the male eagle must chase it and get it back. This and many other uphill tasks will follow till the female eagle is satisfied with the male that mating could take place. Like the eagle, serious minded would-be mothers at the time of dating equally take their men through these ordeals. These prepare these parents for the task ahead of them, no wonder they execute their duties well. This kind of parents is in minority in the society. They need to be eulogized since they are responsible for the complete success of the young ones they procreate- they revivify the standard of family life. Indeed, these are the parents who deserve gifts and praise words on mothers or father’s day, for not all who born and to be called parents but those who born and bred them are the true parents. But there is the need to extend an olive branch to our reckless parents. At times it isn’t their fault. In a word, to avoid this reckless parental traits and secure the future of our children and curb child neglect, all hands must be on deck. In fact, our traditional family system needs a serious overhaul to achieve positive results. There must be sporadic family life education programme to spew the dangers inherent in living a reckless parental lifestyle. Brides should be given grooms with good moral standard and we equally need a radical reorientation with regard to our value and educational system in the country. This will in a way help minimise child neglect and boost human resource in the country. BY:MAXWELL GAVI Ghana – West Africa 0248076983/0203342688 maxwellgavi74@gmail.com