Written By:DR. TIMOTHY IFEDIORANMA

Parents have critical roles to play in the growth and development of the child and by extension, the society at large. Hence, the Holy Book admonishes them to train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it. A society inundated with crime and criminality points to the one where the task of child rearing is very weak.

Suffice it to say that the issue of recent unthinkable repeat of sexual molestations, even in worship centres, is as if the demon of rape is on rampage across the country. No age, race, gender or colour is spared. The worst is incest, where a father rapes his biological baby girl. The next aberration is a situation where a sixty-year old man rapes a four-year-old boy. What a taboo! No doubt, end time is near.

Rape, traditionally, is an abominable act that appalls every sense of decency and reasoning. In the ancient traditional Igbo society, rapists were treated severely because rape was and is still a taboo. On the echelon of social behavior, therefore, rape is viewed as not just a crime against the body and soul, but a grievous sin against the Creator and humanity. Rape is unpardonable, callous, barbaric and devilish. It is the height of social desecration.

One looks at the occurrences as though they have become our normal, acceptable way of life. What has become more dangerous is that the victims of this evil, mostly young men and women as well as children, are either killed after being raped or left to social discrimination and stigmatization.

The constant rise in the number of reported cases of rape makes it more of a national disaster, which a school of thought associates with moral decadence and poor parental upbringing. Though, nothing justifies the degradability of rape, but our parents must be alive to their responsibilities. For instance, dressing mode of most parents runs short of decency, let alone their children. Some parents encourage their children to wear skimpy and seductive dresses to public glare.

Again, sex education should not be vied as immodest. Parents should teach their children the real names of genital organs and not phony names. Children should be taught that some parts of their bodies are private and should be treated as such. Anybody that trespasses should be reported to the parents.

Also, a family that prays together, they say, stays together, especially spiritually. Therefore, parents should guide their child to God, through morning and evening devotions, starting from their early stages in life. By so doing, the children will be inculcated with good morals and acceptable standard of living. Parents, during the devotion, will be able to ascertain early the modus operandi of their children.

Parents must equally guide their children aright in the choice of their friends because evil communication corrupts good manners. Studies have shown that most of the rape cases are products of peer influence. Furthermore, some parents dress up in the presence of their children. This must stop, no matter the age of the child, especially the opposite sex. In addition, parents should teach their children to be contented so that they will not be lured into rape by quest for materialism.

Not just families, schools, places of worship and other social and religious assembly must instill these teachings in the minds of everyone. Again, parents must device engaging models to keep their children and wards busy, occupied and focused. An idle mind is a devil’s workshop.

More so, the Law Enforcement Agents must double their war on the sales and consumption of drugs that push offenders off the cliff of sanity. The fight against the sale of cocaine, crack, tramadol, marijuana and other substances must be intensified, if this fight must be won.

However, the most important aspect of this war is a total change of morality. Moral rectitude remains the purest form of self-education. A change in our moral pattern means that we begin to draw line between what is right and what is wrong and train our minds to forbid what is wrong and think right-mindedly.

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