The Sad Story of a Young School girl. African Parents need Learn!

The story of a Nigerian school girl made me almost shed tears. On a cute monday morning, you would behold African children, sobbing and wailing. You would spot a barely 2yrs old, making do with tears. You would see a soft and crimeless under-age, weeping heavily while holding water bottle and food flask in a small basket. On a good-looking morning, you would see an African mother, holding a cane, flogging and forcing her child into a monstrous school bus.These young ones would rather spend time with their parents.They would rather stay close to their mothers, all day.They would, by choice, cling to their fathers' necks and play with their moustache.They don't want to go to school! They are afraid of some cruel and unnatural teachers, who would always nag. They are afraid of friends, who would make jest of their tummies and big heads. So, they cry and ask questions. Mummy, why? Why can't I stay with you? Why must I go to that school? Some days ago, I fed my very eyes on the black and white story of a young, innocent, school girl. She was dragged to school by her Mum.The pretty baby cried and cried, but, her mum refused to listen. The girl screamed: "My leg!" But, her Mum kept dragging her. She took the little beauty to her class and narrated to the teacher, how her daughter didn't want to go to school, making a lame excuse of some pains in the leg. The mother left, but her daughter did not stop crying. She cried and cried again. After hours of persistent tears from the little girl, who had been persuaded by her colleagues to no avail, the teacher decided to investigate what the cause was. She moved closer to the teary pupil and asked: "What is wrong with you?" The small girl would not talk but point to one of her legs. The teacher then removed the girls' shoe to dispossess it of some small stones kinda, that could be causing such a crie. It was a black scorpion that fell off. It had deposited enough stings and venom on the young child's leg, to make it stiff. Not only was the leg unnatural anylonger, but, the colour had started turning green from the effect of uninterrupted stinging. Then, my question. Why couldn't the mother spare a single minute to investigate her daughter's shoes, when she first cried: "My leg"? Most likely, she didn't want to waste a minute. She didn't want her daughter to get to SCHOOL late.

African mothers are not inhumane, you know? They are not heartless. In all conscience, they are not callous.They only think, that the lone way to success is school. They only want their children to make a fortune on the dot, so, they don't mind taking them to school, too early. They don't mind letting them go through psychical torture, when they are, yet, very vulnerable. They don't want to know how badly a teacher hurts their children, as long as he teaches them good mathematics.They don't mind if a school would kill their children in the heart, as long as it promises academic excellence. African parents hate it, when a child comes home with average grades. They want him to have all distinctions without considering his strength and intelligence. They would personally aflict and mistreat, with words, canes and/or food, a child who comes home with poor grades, even, when he had put in his best. They would treat him with objection, a child who refuses to top the class. Do you know how teachers abuse children in some schools, just to make them have good grades(that their parents blindly demanded)? Have you not heard of a high school, where in the middle of the term, students would be assembled, and the best three students of each class, would be given prices, while the last ten, would be mercilessly beaten and humiliated? Some even put their children in boarding schools, when they are, yet, very soft and tender. When they need parental warmth more. All these, to make the child get the best of school.

Thomas edison was an American child in the 18s.Like other children of his time, he was enrolled in a school, where he spent just 12weeks before his teacher grew fed up. He noted, that little Tom's forehead was unusually broad, and, that he had a bigger head than normal. He summed up, that the child's brains were either mixed up, unglued or scrambled, the reason he would ask too much questions. When Tom's mother heard of the teacher's dislike for her son, she withdrew him from school and decided to keep his son to herself. That was the end of formal education for Tom. His mother taught him at home, believing that her little son's unusual behaviour, and slightly odd physical appearance were merely outward signs of his remarkable intelligence. Could you believe, that Tom grew up to be famous Thomas Alva Edison, the greatest inventor of his time, with 1,093 American patents? The whole world owe to Tom, the light bulb, among his many works. This is the tittle, School is appropriate, but it's not worth sacrificing your child for. Her judgement shouldn't settle your picture of that little child. Poor grades doesn't suggest, that your son's future is bleary. That a child is not academically alive and kicking, shouldn't make you conclude he/she is substandard. School is fine, but, you shouldn't exchange the parental warmth and closeness your daughter deserves for the best of it. School is hygienic, but, it's not worth letting go of your Son's whole length happiness and emotional health for. Why must you look away when a teacher maltreats your child? Is class work a genuine proof that your daughter's morrow is bright? Stop treating, with contempt, that kid, who would not perform too well in class, not everyone would be a Doctor, not all would be lawyers. Stop making life a bit much for that child, who could not leave school with accolades. Do not humiliate your child because he/she is not as brilliant as others, you never can tell, what the future holds.Can't African Mothers, treat, with love and compassion, that not bookish child, who might just be another Thomas Edison in the making? When the School concludes he's low-grade, tell him he's tall and uncommon.Tell him he's a whiz kid. Must you expose your Tom to school, when he's just a year old? Let him enjoy your warmth and love a little.Why not take your time to fit him out for the tribulations ahead? Why not fortify him pretty much for the trials of learning? Believe in your child, when others underestimate him. Welcome him with love, when teachers and friends chase him out with ridicule. Do not call him, good for nothing, when his report sheet is bloody. Do not sacrifice his happiness on the altar of mathematics. Encourage him, when the school concludes he's just a dullard. Let him lean on you, and, you would help him prove the school wrong.

_Ayeni Faith Damilola is a writer, public speaker and eulogist._
_faithdamilolaayeni@yahoo.com_

Nice piece,I am really touched.