Safeguarding the Minds of Our Children.

To say that the devil is strategically after the minds and lives of the children is stating the obvious. All you need to do is look at how negativity has infiltrated the education and entertainment our children are exposed to.

Virtually every App, Game, Cartoon and current teaching methods are teaching things contrary to a child's well being. Children are starting to doubt their gender; they are more attention deficient and selfish.

These must have been what the early missionaries saw happening decades ago when they set up Christian schools. They made curriculum that was based on teaching   morals alongside the normal course work. In fact, good morals were the platform on which all other subjects were taught.

They knew to achieve this; there must be some kind of separation from what the world was demanding to be taught. Please note I said “Separation” and not “Segregation” because after setting up the schools, it was accessible to everyone irrespective of social, cultural and religious background. 

Today, the education system is almost in ruins. Morality is being taught outside God but just to follow a set of manmade rules. This erosion in moral life has affected many as it is key to the Christian faith.

Most churches and christain individuals, organisations have decided to replicate what the orthodox churches and missionaries have done, by setting up schools that are scripture oriented and can engage the minds of the children leading them not just in education but also how to navigate the ever changing world around them. A world that seems to be in contention with the norms of morality and christianity.

So, as we teach them A, B and C, engaging them in ways to stay focused, standing and knowing right and wrong is very key. Children must start to know, early enough that some things are wrong, why they are wrong and what they ought to do when faced with such, even if the majority say otherwise.

Today the enemy has devised various seemingly innocent ways to engage the mind of children, if he achieves this, the education we have so much strived to give them will ultimately amount to little.

‎Yes! We must give them a free hand to express themselves, but there is a reason that we are the parents and we are the adults. There is a reason why we are already equipped with the experience they are so yearning to find out, and this is where our responsible guidance and mentoring comes in.

"Train up a child in the way he/she should go...and when he grows he/she will not depart from it."

The obvious potent weapon of the enemy today is social media, games, TV...etc. Truthfully there is not much we can do in the way the world is going in technology to avoid or denial them these gadgets...but we must be very informed on the type of applications on the various gadgets we get for them. We must be conscious of how to activate parental guidance on their computers, tabs, and Internet platforms. There are various games and Apps that are designed to engage children in education, and mental development, while we have some equally targeting them for sinister purpose, we can no longer be naïve, as in to go out and use our hard earned, God given money to purchase a device for our children without first making sure our gift of love (sometimes indulgence)  doesn't end up a Greek one.

Note. 

There are many apps and games that are children oriented in their interface, but might expose them to adult contents in subtle ways

There are Apps and games that are designed to target their minds to pervert their thinking on various issues, norms and traditions we hold dear....

There is a way you as the parents can activate a parental guidance on your Internet Wi-Fi at home to stop them engaging in pornographic, satanic and violent sites when you are away.

Know that there are tabs today that are pre-installed with porn pop-ups automatically....so just going out and purchasing a gadget is no good enough...ask questions about pre-installed apps, pop-ups and Ads.

Even on TV, gone are the days where we watch government controlled viewing...Today the norm is cable television, and they come with various channels, both for children and adults. One can equally activate PG on your cable channels making sure the children don't indulge themselves with adult contents programme in your absence. This is not their responsibility but ours as parents and guardians.

Pls take note of the age recommendations on the CDs, and movies we download‎ and watch...if not appropriate for children, it should be kept away or not purchased at all...There is no point buying a CD that you can't watch with your children. 

Some parents have banned their children or blocked some supposedly children channels, because when they took their time to watch with the children, they discovered the programmes were not that innocent after all but very suggestive and sensual in subtle ways.

A single porn or satanic image or programme can destroy everything one has been engaged in with the life of a child. It stays intact and battles the mind for decades, unless one seeks counselling and stops viewing and believing the lies on the screen.

The Screen is the very effective way to engage billions of people in very short a time so as to pass information as quickly as possible globally. Unfortunately this is equally potent when in wrong hands targeting little boys and girls, even teenagers and adults, if adults struggle with this issues, I hope you can imagine what it will do to the mind of a 5 year old.

Our Christian Schools 

We educate children so they can be a blessing to the society. But can we truly, totally harness all the educated child has to offer when he/she lacks the morals, conviction, discipline, tact and a good heart. If and when this things are lacking the education stands on faulty foundation. We are currently in a deplorable state in our country today caused by mostly educated leaders, but no love in their hearts for the people, no vision, and no focus. Most don't even know what it entails to be in the position of leadership. “The worst kind of criminal is an educated one”.

Educating a child without morals and restraint is a ticking time bomb waiting to go off.

Our schools must begin to tackle this head on. We have already taught them the Bible stories, the do’s and the don'ts...Schools that want to truly engage children and see them grow up to build a prosperous nation must go the extra mile and strategize ways to educate the parents and children how to avoid lewd and ungodly content on the various gadgets that the children and wards are constantly exposed to, even in school.

We need to engage parents on ways to tackle the trend head on.

Our social responsibility should not just start and stop with teaching and school fees and the norms. We have to strife to make sure that what we put in their minds can withstand and correct the negativity social media platforms try to put there.

We must know who has the greater access to their hearts and interest. Is it we the parents, the church and schools or social trends that destroy their innocence and eventually future. If it's the latter, then the fault lies with us.

Here is a letter from grange school Ikeja GRA informing parents and guidance and generally public on the deceptive nature of some games, Apps and programmes on gadgets we purchase for our children. This shows the school's resilience and responsibilities in going an extra mile to make sure their children are not perverted by unsuspecting, seemingly innocent information on their devices and their parents. 

This is very much encouraging even coming from a private school that does not have any religious affiliation.

Don't be deceived it's an all out war out there. It's a great contention for minds and destinies of the Children. Beautiful minds the enemy plans to manipulate and pervert. Minds that will shape, direct, instruct and have power over the future. The enemy knows this, and is hell bent and resilient in efforts to destroy and pervert them.

"If we allow our children to do what they like today...they will eventually do what we don't like tomorrow"  Gbile Akanni.

The ball, as they say, is in our court.