Nollywood actress Dakore Akande in a post titled ‘Digital Media, My Babies & I
has talked about the challenges of raising children in a world that has had
more advancement in technology than the one she grew up in.
has talked about the challenges of raising children in a world that has had
more advancement in technology than the one she grew up in.
Read her post below:
On today’s
post I want to share the challenge I face as a parent on a daily basis
as it concerns digital media/new technology/television.Growing
up we didn’t all have access to it or only had ‘restricted’ access. In
my case when school started we weren’t allowed to watch TV so we could
concentrate. Yeah, my folks were hard-core like that. We didn’t have
much choice in terms of what to watch, it was either “Voltron”, “Sesame
Street” or “She-Ra” on television or music videos on Betamax or VHS
cassette. Wow, my age don dey show o!Nowadays
my daughters are spoilt for choice as to what to watch on TV with so
many different cartoon channels and YouTube on my phone or iPad. I have
nothing against mankind’s advancement in technology considering it has
made life a lot easier in many ways and saved lives especially in
medicine, etc., but as a new parent it’s something we all need to be
mindful of.My 1st born is already a
whiz on my phone and IPad and I usually let her watch her favourite
shows like “Sofia the 1st”, “Frozen”, “Peppa-Pig”, etc and I did not
worry about it too much because most times I have to help her type what
she wants to watch so that way I can monitor what she’s doing. Right?
Well, sort of. It turns out that there are so many suggestions that pop
up based on previous history that can lure kids to get into some adult
stuff with parodies of these shows such as “Barbie life in the Dream
House”- let me just say it was borderline porn! I was shocked but of
course I had to play it cool and just changed it to something more
wholesome! Phew!From then on I
always ensure to extra double check what she’s up to. It is not as if
she’s deliberately searching for naughty stuff because she’s only 3
years old, but if it’s dangled in front of her like a lollipop, then I
can’t blame her for her curiosity but it will not be curiosity killing
my little kitty if I can help it! That was my first shocker so I brought
my husband’s attention together we became more vigilant.Another
issue is with music videos and shows. As we all know, we live in a
highly sexualized world where sex sells just about everything and I find
myself worrying about the impact that has on the children we are
raising today. In my household we are huge lovers of music of all
genres, be it our very own Naija pop, hip-hop, or R&B. And one of my
favourite things to do is to dance with my daughters. In the past, I
would leave the TV on and watch TraceTV or SoundCity and let it keep
showing, now I have to be extra vigilant with all the nudity and shaking
of bum-bums. This is coupled with the fact that I have two baby girls
and I can’t particularly say I’m happy with the way certain women allow
themselves to be portrayed. However that is an entirely different topic
for another day.But back to the
matter at hand, I find I have to reduce watching those shows or leave it
to when they’re asleep or play the audio version only, or just switch
to another channel entirely. When the video that comes up is too risqué
and that always causes troubles with my feisty 3 year old.We
really have to contend with a lot these days and I want to encourage us
as Mums to be more vigilant with our kids so they don’t grow up too
fast and start dealing with things they don’t understand.
Till next time.Blessings,
Dakore