The family is a fundamental social unit. It plays a role in determining the character, values, and structure of society which is fully acceptable to all men and women of insight and vision. It is the primary source of nurture, conduct, values, and cultural indoctrination. It strengthens individuals and acts as a vital resource for development. It is upon recognition of this pivotal role influence that the United Nations General Assembly declared 1994 as the International Year of the Family.
The purpose of this article is to expound on the influence of the family in the Namibian context and to argue for its necessity in ensuring the continued progress and development of our nation.
Family in the African context
The term family, in the African context as of the 18th century, meant either an aristocratic lineage or a household including servants and dependents. The primary Western concept of family as a nuclear unit comprising mother, father, and children only is a relatively recent one. In fact, many African countries do not distinguish the ‘nuclear’ grouping from the community around it. Yet, traditional anthropologists claim to see such units in all societies.
Although it is difficult to define a unit so flexible and variable that it assumes many forms, a family can be perceived as a group defined by a sexual relationship sufficiently precise and enduring to provide for procreation and the raising of children. Thus, the term’ family’ in the African context encompasses both individuals and relationships.
It constitutes all the people related through marriage, blood, and broadened to include those who are economically dependent but not geographically, on the nuclear unit. Hence, the phrase extended family.
Family values and child/youth development
Person development, values, and respect stem from familial socialisation, shaping lives through exposure to standards and expectations. Children and youth seek to assimilate family-imposed values amidst environmental and peer group demands.
A disturbing factor in this process is the rapidly changing socio-economic environment. For many young people, this uncontrollable unpredictability creates an identity crisis that may lead to problems in education, employment, and social integration.
For these reasons, it is of the essence that the family ensures appropriate interventions are used to impart values and understanding, factoring in the psychological and emotional upheavals that the youth and children go through.
Understanding these aspects of development helps adults properly inform the Namibian child. Without this, advice can trigger rebellion and expulsion, leading to social issues like substance abuse and teenage pregnancies, which are seen as rebellious acts.
Parents and caregivers should foster a warm, open environment to motivate self-actualisation. Today’s children face challenges like economic hardship, exposure to modern media, and environments that alienate them from their families. These factors can lead to crime and substance abuse, increasing risks of alcoholism and HIV/AIDS, which harm societal and economic progress.
Family and career education
The education and economic functions were interwoven in the traditional African setting. Education was tailored to meet the community’s daily needs.
Young people were taught various skills, usually along gender roles. Girls were taught to be homemakers and look after their young siblings. Boys were primed to build and repair houses and become responsible as heads of the home. Thus, the education of the young was comprehensive, compulsory, and free, with practical responsibilities created to educate them. The responsibility of this training lay with the entire community – the family. Today, the contrast is true.
Enterprise and skills are no longer passed down from generation to generation. Rather, education has become a stereotype of formal information disseminated in schools, accessible only to a fortunate few. Worse still, this mean of education is geared towards the production of “white collar” jobs, which are difficult to presently access due to saturation in the market place as well as economic conditions causing the sector to contract year by year.
Therefore, it is important that families renew their commitment and place focus and interest in their offspring’s education and career. Families should ensure that students’ educational needs are met. The community must identify and generate mentors who are willing to advise and guide the young people to success.
The composition and functions of the family have changed dramatically over the past few decades. The challenges facing the Namibian child are numerous. The family’s direction has become more material, negating the raising and training of the youth by maids, media, and social peers. The decay of the old traditional means of parenting and familial transfer of values calls for the creation and adoption of dynamic means to ensure that our society brings and develops worthy and capable youth who will become able future leaders leading our nation to greater heights.
*Reverend Jan A Scholtz is the former chairperson of the ||Kharas Regional Council and former! Nami#nus constituency councillor. He holds a Diploma in Theology, B-Theo (SA), a Diploma in Youth Work and Development from the University of Zambia (UNZA), as well as a Diploma in Education III (KOK) BA (HED) from UNISA.