Money/ Play
As I walked from Krofrom to Ashtown (suburbs of Kumasi), I came across two empty parks. I was surprised as children do not go to school on Saturdays. "Where are the Kids?", I asked myself.
This made me to ask two kids who were sitting behind a MTN stand why they are not playing on the park. "Our mother says we should take care of her stand", the older one replied. Not waiting for his elder brother to finish talking the younger one jumped into the conversation saying that the security guards for the parks will ask them to pay for the weeding of the park should they see them playing on the parks.
The other park which was close to Ashtown had a KVIP on one side which was also devoid of kids. This could however be attributed to the awful stench from the KVIP. Though the Abyss Park in Ashtown had some kids playing football on it, it was fenced as it shares the same compound with a Community Centre, which was under-lock- on Saturday!
Children in the Kumasi Metropolitan Area are being deprived of their childhood privileges by their parents, guardians and authorities. Most of them are made to sell on the streets, markets, parks, alleys etc. A parent or guardian will rather make his or her child sell ice water, oranges, bread etc than see the child play during his or her free or leisure time.
It is not difficult to see a little boy or girl run behind a "trotro" (mini bus) carrying plantain chips. But have you thought of the fact that this child can be the child of your next door neighbour and not a street child. Who will even give the street boy plantain chips to sell?.
Even most of the open areas where children used to gather and play over the years have been converted into shops or buying and selling areas. This "Shop Architecture" which has become predominant here in Ghana has its own cultural, social, educational ect implications on the children and the society at large.
Parents nowadays do not mind leaving their shops in the care of their little ones in pursuit of other things. How many times have you not being served by a little girl in a shop or kiosk in your area? No wonder kids of today are not interested in some of the game that were played in the past like "Pililo", "Are you ready", Ampe etc. Have you not realized that most of the games children engage in nowadays involve some sort of gambling?
Someone will say that poverty and financial constraints make parents and guardians engage their children in trading at an early age. Others will attribute it to the lack of purpose-built playgrounds? Just take a look at the Afua Sutherland Park in Accra- how many times do you see kids there?
How do you perceive this whole issue?
This made me to ask two kids who were sitting behind a MTN stand why they are not playing on the park. "Our mother says we should take care of her stand", the older one replied. Not waiting for his elder brother to finish talking the younger one jumped into the conversation saying that the security guards for the parks will ask them to pay for the weeding of the park should they see them playing on the parks.
The other park which was close to Ashtown had a KVIP on one side which was also devoid of kids. This could however be attributed to the awful stench from the KVIP. Though the Abyss Park in Ashtown had some kids playing football on it, it was fenced as it shares the same compound with a Community Centre, which was under-lock- on Saturday!
Children in the Kumasi Metropolitan Area are being deprived of their childhood privileges by their parents, guardians and authorities. Most of them are made to sell on the streets, markets, parks, alleys etc. A parent or guardian will rather make his or her child sell ice water, oranges, bread etc than see the child play during his or her free or leisure time.
It is not difficult to see a little boy or girl run behind a "trotro" (mini bus) carrying plantain chips. But have you thought of the fact that this child can be the child of your next door neighbour and not a street child. Who will even give the street boy plantain chips to sell?.
Even most of the open areas where children used to gather and play over the years have been converted into shops or buying and selling areas. This "Shop Architecture" which has become predominant here in Ghana has its own cultural, social, educational ect implications on the children and the society at large.
Parents nowadays do not mind leaving their shops in the care of their little ones in pursuit of other things. How many times have you not being served by a little girl in a shop or kiosk in your area? No wonder kids of today are not interested in some of the game that were played in the past like "Pililo", "Are you ready", Ampe etc. Have you not realized that most of the games children engage in nowadays involve some sort of gambling?
Someone will say that poverty and financial constraints make parents and guardians engage their children in trading at an early age. Others will attribute it to the lack of purpose-built playgrounds? Just take a look at the Afua Sutherland Park in Accra- how many times do you see kids there?
How do you perceive this whole issue?
.JPG)
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