**9. Recommendations**

African culture and values see the mother as the keeper of the house. She is a housewife and makes sure that as the father is the bread winner, she must cater for all the domestic aspect of the children. Currently, there has been a paradigm shift. Since our day to day lives many of us are overstretched, we sometimes approach parenting tired and overwhelmed and as a result leave the children to the neglect of house helps and caretakers. This reduces the amount of time parents should spend with their wards. It should be stressed that even when the extended family is no longer in function, parents especially mothers, should be around to help bring up

The mother serves as a support to the child especially, when the extended family is not around.

The traditional African systems as described have gone through the influence of external systems and forces which has transformed the rich parental values we have as Africans. The extended family system which is under pressure is rapidly eroding and failing to fulfil its primary role of socialization. In the urban areas for instance, the nuclear family is prominently cropping up. Presently, there is no cohesion; it is just the individual family, his work and his property. This has resulted in less socialization. Currently, families bring up their children in Estate houses whereby one group of a family does not know who his/her neighbour is. In view of that when problems arise in such communities, nobody cares and families are destroyed as

Again, the media has taken precedence in our families that children no longer listen to folk stories anymore; they are rather with the television, internet, foreign books and computers. These modernization gadgets have limited information with regards to African cultural values and proper traditional parenting which can easily be assessed by all. In view of that a lot of young people have lost touch of the rich cultural values we have as Africans. A lot of young people presently no longer give a helping hand to the adult and do not offer their seat to the

Presently, teenage pregnancy is on the increase. Young girls do not regard their cultural values as far as virginity and marriage is concerned. Young couples give birth before they think about marriage. Some are as a result of the decision of the man to be sure that the woman is fertile before he marries her. This is for him to prevent childlessness in his home and the extended family. Others due to poor parental care and control, lack the love and commitment to stay with one woman. This has ended in the spread of sexually transmitted diseases and bearing children who have been abandoned by their parents; roaming in the bigger cities as hawkers,

Let us take for instance, the wife or mother who works in the bank and wakes up early dawn each day. If she has no extended family staying with her, then, she has to make sure the children

the child in a responsible manner.

74 Parenting in South American and African Contexts

**8. Implications to parenting**

elderly whether in public or private.

prostitutes, pick pockets and armed robbers.

**7.1. Relevance**

a result of this.

From the factors given with regards to parenting, it would be noted that African culture contributes immensely in the upbringing of young people. This exposition is calling on our African nuclear families to rise up if they have completely neglected the extended family. The extended family is tearing apart especially in our bigger, busy cities. Nuclear families should make it a point to visit their hometowns and patch up with their extended families. Parents should frequently introduce their children to their extended families on both sides.

It is recommended that parents should endeavour to visit the old stories, make time and narrate them to their children. During my childhood school days I remember when it is story time; we take turns in the classroom to narrate these folktales to ourselves. Presently, the stories are rather the foreign ones we read. I believe our teachers should be reminded of this practice so the children can have rich cultural training. Again, curriculum developers should be reminded to revisit the times some of the stories were included in the reading books.

There is a statement in the Ghanaian language which says that whenever you neglect or abandoned something and later you go back for it; it is never forbidden. Meaning, you can still revisit whatever you neglected. It then behoves on our law makers and cultural authorities, to make sure that puberty rite is again established. Our parents and community leaders should make sure that every growing child, entering into the adolescent stage has undergone this event.

Working mothers and housewives; in as much as there is so much to be done at home and also at the workplace, please do endeavour to make time for the children. Some parents have so much to do that during vacations and weekends when the children are supposed to spend time with them, they allow these children to go for extra tuition which sometimes is unneces‐ sary. These busy schedules of parents have influenced private schools to organise so many activities for the children that they are not able to socialise properly and also stay home and learn at the feet of their parents.
