The beauty and uniqueness of our cultural heritage and core values is in the collective behavior and interactions of every member of the society. Our parents taught us some of the norms. Our behavioral characters were shaped by the norms we learned from our parents. We were taught certain behaviors on how we should relate with people of different classes and of different age ranges in the community. We were taught how to do some house chores and household activities. We were taught those qualities that are recommended and those ones we should not practice. All these norms we learned from our parents affected our collective behaviors in the society.
As parents now who are raising another generation of society members in our children, we are saddled with the responsibility of passing on what we have learnt from our parents to our children. We are to indoctrinate them in the acceptable norms of culture. We are to caution them against going in the direction which is unacceptable in the society.
Learning Society Behavior
I teach my children how to relate in the community with people of different age ranges. I teach them how to greet and respect those who are older than them. I teach my daughter to learn the cultural way girls greet in my culture. In my culture, girls kneel down to greet elders. I teach this to my daughter. I teach her not to stay up late. I teach her to avoid hanging out with the wrong set of people (especially boys)
I teach my son to respect elders. I teach him to prostrate and greet. Just as the girls have their way of greeting, the boys have the way they greet in my culture. In my tradition, boys prostrate to greet their parents and other elders.
Learning Home Ethics
Our culture has several values. It is expected that girl children should be good home managers. They should know how to prepare food and arrange the home. As the mother, I pass on what I have learnt from my parents that has helped me in managing my home to my children. I teach my daughter how to cook our various delicacies. I teach her how to do laundry and keep the house in order.
The male children are trained to become defenders of their homes and the providers. We teach our boys this. We make them grow to become reliable components of the community. I teach my son how to be responsible and learn to be hardworking. I encourage him to know how to do what the male does in helping out at home. I show him how to grow up and become a loving father and husband.
Conclusion
Our collective behaviors help in promoting and sustaining our cultural norms. We pass these valuable norms to our children from one generation to another. We who are the parents teach our children so that they in turn will teach their children.
This post is my day 10 entry for the inleo writing prompts Join the quest if you are not in already.
Posted Using InLeo Alpha
Posted Using InLeo Alpha