How to Make Your ‘Aje-butter’ Child Streetwise (Part 1)

Oluwatoyin Osaigbovo

Looking at this topic, I thought of my daughter and her school mates. I observe other children being dropped off at school as I drop mine. Then, on my way to and from school run, I see children from other schools walk to school, cross the road, walk beside cars, buses, as well as other children and adults. They seem to do so well on their own and I ask myself, ‘Is my child, when left alone, able to cross the road, walk that distance or cope with the circumstance these other children face?’

Knowing she will be living in the same society as these children, and there are more of these ‘ajepakis’ (streetwise) children than our ‘ajebota’ (sheltered) children, how is she to cope? This points out the need to make our ‘ajebota’ children streetwise.

READ ALSO: 6 Subtle Ways to Teach Your Child About Life

In order to re-invent our ‘ajebotas’ into ‘streetwise ajebotas’ – a more wholesome child, the following is a sure recipe:

Expose them to the world

Let them know there is life beyond what they are used to. My daughter once read a book about types of toilets, where she discovered that in ancient times, there are houses with their conveniences outside the main building.  Imagine the look on her face when I told her that such buildings exist. I then went further to show her a number of houses with several utilities outside their main buildings.  She was shocked to learn that people actually live in such conditions. In the process, she asked several questions to find out how these people coped and we both went through the process of learning.

It is important to talk to them about various things we see on the streets and we need to explain why some things happen and let them know right from wrong in the process. This will help them learn compassion and when someone is just trying to play smart just to get something out of them.

Let them walk on the streets

In preschool, our children have been taught what to do when walking on the streets and crossing the road but we never really know how to go about it until we attempt to do it. Experience, they say, is the best teacher.  For instance, no one ever teaches that there will be a car blaring its horn, which could scare a child who has not been exposed to such things. No one teaches us what to do at a crossroad for instance, we must experience it. There are also certain lessons to be learned while walking on the road.

Take long walks on the streets with your child. Start by parking some distance away from the school and walking to your car after picking up your child. Let your child take long walks in your neighbourhood while holding his hand. After some time, allow your child to walk in front of you while you watch and guide him. Go through some unusual terrains so your child learns how to manoeuvre such terrains.

How about experimenting with public transportation?

It is important that your child learns how to live in our society. He needs to know how to take public transportation i.e. taxi and buses. You can start with taxis and then BRT before you go on to other buses. There are several things your child needs to experience about taking public transportation.

Let your child know how to take transportation to several places especially from your house to the usual places you go to. At the age of 7, I taught my daughter how to take transportation from the house to school and to a relative’s house. While driving through Oshodi, I slowed down and made her listen to how passengers are being called into buses going to various destinations.

Make it fun while at it. For instance, my daughter and I have fun laughing at the way our bus conductors call ‘osho’ instead of ‘oshodi’, ‘my toe’ instead of ‘mile 2’ and ‘wey ma people’ instead of ‘wilmer’.  I figured she needed to know this.

…to be continued.