Moral Degeneration: Who is to blame?

It is quite difficult to discuss issues on morality. The major reason is that there are different schools of thought when it comes to what exactly morality is. In fact philosophers including Socrates, Plato and Kant have to use different philosophical methods including logic, reasoning and argumentation to explain this controversial but important subject to people.

For now, I do not think it is prudent to engage ourselves in any endless philosophical arguments. What is important, I believe, is to simply see morality in the light of the principles (the accepted ones of course) of good behavior. In other words, distinguishing between what is right or wrong, fair or unfair, responsible or irresponsible.

I can not agree more with those who think that things are getting out of hands as far as immorality in our society is concerned.

Indecent dressing I witnessed an incident last month which really shocked me. A thirteen- year old girl went ?wild? and hurled all kinds of insults on her mother. The ?crime? of her mother was that she sewed a dress which was too long for the girl?s liking. According to the girl, the dress was old-fashioned. (Colo) She challenged her mother to go and find out the type of dresses that her friends wear these days. (Apparently, she was referring to the type that could expose her thighs.) In fact the girl became furious, threw the dress at her mother and left the house amidst insults.

It would be unfair to suggest that it is only ladies who dress indecently. Of late; it is not uncommon to see young men wearing their belts under their buttocks instead of their waist-lines, thereby exposing their buttocks and lower abdomen.

I find it strange that sane persons, in the name of modernity, could go almost naked and shamelessly expose ?vital parts? of their bodies, which under normal circumstances one would toil for before he/she could have access to. But for the neatness of their dresses, one would have found it difficult to differentiate between them and ?our friends? who are on the streets. But should we totally blame them? What should we expect when some of these young ones lack parental control because their parents themselves are irresponsible? It is sad that as a society, we also sometimes indirectly give our blessings to this kind of shameful behavior by giving unnecessary compliments instead of frowning on it.

Sexual promiscuity As for sexual promiscuity, the least said about it the better. In spite of its numerous advantages, it is not an exaggeration to say that the advent of information technology has also contributed to this social vice. Only God knows the kind and volume of indecent pictures that the youth in particular watch on the internet these days. Quite a number of adverts on our television sets are now spiced with sexual connotations. Pornographic materials are openly displayed on news stands for school children to watch. Some musicians have also specialized in lyrics that are shameful to listen to. Unfortunately, they are the very songs that some radio stations enjoy playing. People who are expected to be role models in society indulge in all kinds of immoral acts. Sadly, instead of calling spade a spade, we sometimes rationalize and ?sugar-coat? their behavior to appear as if it is ?normal? to do such things.

Funerals have now become catalysts for sexual promiscuity. In fact words can not describe the kind of things that go on at obscure places during wakes. This should be a concern to us all as we are campaigning against teenage pregnancy and the spread of HIV/AIDS. Some married couples have also become full-time funeral contractors. In fact they hardly spend week-ends at home. Since they have their immoral agenda, which is directly related to their marital unfaithfulness, they program their activities in such a way that they are able to attend all kinds of funerals including a distant cousin?s friend?s father?s uncle?s funeral.

I was shocked and in fact sad after reading a publication captioned ?JSS students take delight in attending funerals? which appeared on page 21 of Thursday, May 10, 2007 edition of the Daily Graphic. The third paragraph reads ?Even when there are no funerals in their areas, they travel as far as other communities where they believe there are funerals just to have fun? This means the students literally hunt for funerals.- Incredible! According to the reporter, one of the young girls he interviewed at the funeral ground was even more than ready to have sex with him, even without a condom. When asked whether her mother would not be angry for staying so late, the girl replied ?I take care of myself and my mother does not care about me and I don?t care about her. As for my father, he doesn?t even ask?. In this case, should we blame the kids for being wayward; or their parents for being irresponsible; or the society for ?modernizing? funerals?

In order to survive economically, many parents spend several hours outside the home, working. Of course we should abhor laziness and work hard to be responsible parents. Unfortunately, our long absence from the home sometimes results in children not being properly trained to suit society?s way of life. Television sets and house-helps have virtually become agents of socialization in many homes. For example, a colleague?s three-year old boy fetched water, raised up the cup and perfectly recited a slogan (slogan withheld), which usually accompanies the advertisement of an alcoholic drink on the television. What this means is that the innocent boy is indirectly being introduced to alcoholism at that tender age. Who then should we blame if he grows up to become a drunkard or advances to the taking of drugs? We are all complaining about the crime rate in our society. But have we taken our time to consider the impact of the kind of violent films that are sometimes shown on our televisions?

Disrespect for the elderly We can not deny the fact that there is little respect for the elderly these days. I remember some years ago, we literally ran and hid ourselves when we saw our teachers in town. In fact, your own parents could report you to your teachers to be disciplined. But what do we see today? Some students are bold enough to insult their teachers and even go to the extent of assaulting them. What should we expect if the very parents of the students, who are expected to be role models, make derogatory remarks about the teachers and in fact show no respect for them? Any way, are some of the teachers also living exemplary lives to command the expected respect?

In the past, any elderly person at all could discipline a child for wrong doing. Dare to do so today and besides the child shocking you with abusive words, his/her parents could also take you on and quote all the articles under the sun on human rights to you for disciplining their child without their consent. People are therefore very careful and prefer to see such children ?rot?. The sad news is that as they are left to ?rot?, they ?infect? the entire society with all kinds of social vices. Who then should we blame?

Corruption Two weeks ago, I met a retired public servant, who had worked for twenty- eight years. As he shared his work experiences with me, it was obvious that in their days many of them were really committed and dedicated to their work. People were employed to work at places based on their experiences and qualifications, not on ?whom you know?. I can not tell if the same thing could be said about us today. It is amazing the kind of things that go on in some offices. Work, which could be done within few minutes take weeks and in some cases months simply because somebody did not put what is termed ?weight? on it. Others will openly ask you to ?do something?. Some people have now devised all kinds of criminal and fraudulent means to get ?rich quick?. Unfortunately, we, as a society also sometimes honour such people without questioning the source of their wealth. People who are honest in their dealings and are content with whatever they have are rather looked down upon and considered as not being ?smart? ?fast? or ?visionary? enough. Having made the above points, it is important to make few clarifications since some people erroneously use them to justify their immoral acts.

Firstly, the fact that something is legal does not necessarily make it moral. I have heard people argue that ?if this and that were not moral, how come they were legalized?? Some people witnessed, some heard, and others read about the abuse of human rights and other injustices that some people suffered as a result of the slave trade. Interestingly, until a law was passed on its abolishment, the trade was legal. So could we say that the slave trade was good?

Secondly, we may be wrong if we always appeal to a higher authority to determine what is morally acceptable. In other words the fact that a pastor, a lawyer, a teacher, a parent, a politician or an opinion leader was/is involved in a particular act does not necessarily make that act a good one.

Suggestions It would be unfair to say that nothing is being done about immorality in our society. In fact religious leaders never cease talking about it. They should however not give up. Instead, they should expose this social vice without fear or favour.

Parents should be responsible, make time to be with their children and give their children the appropriate training.

The relevant Government, non-governmental and religious organizations should organize frequent programs for parents on good parenting.

The media, especially the electronic ones should be very circumspect in their work, being mindful of the fact that they make significant impact on their viewers and listeners.

We should remember that as a nation, we have a big challenge as far as immorality is concerned. There is therefore the need to tackle it with all the seriousness that it deserves.

Views expressed by the author(s) do not necessarily reflect those of GhanaHomePage.