This archive report was first published on 1 July 2021.
July 1, 2021 - The values of children in Kenya are in crisis, with a significant number drifting away from religious teachings and embracing secular voices. This alarming trend is revealed in a study conducted by Loyola Centre for Media and Communications among 120 educators.
The study found that while some children remain committed to their faith, a considerable number is not just drifting away from religious teachings but also listening more to secular voices than that of God. The educators involved in the study were directly engaged in the formation of children and confirmed by parents who were trained on Child Identity Formation.
According to the study, a majority of parents are struggling to raise their children, with 95.7% agreeing that parental care has declined in the past 10 years. Additionally, 80.2% of parents agreed that children increasingly use social media for mentorship, while 89% agreed that many young people are leaving the Church.
Another study conducted among 644 parents revealed that many are struggling to provide guidance to their children. Only 46.7% of parents agreed that they trust the attitude and behavior of their teenager to not get involved in peer criminal-like activities, while 45.5% agreed that they must control their child's actions because it is their responsibility if anything goes wrong.
The statistics paint a picture of a society where children's identity is being formed by multiple sources, reflecting a radical shift from traditional mentorship. This shift is evident in the fact that more and more children, particularly teenagers, are figuring out on their own what kind of adults they will want to be and pursuing it.
Dr. Mokua, executive director of Loyola Centre for Media and Communications, notes that parental care and guidance are being reduced to the provision of essentials for the material wellbeing of the child, but not the spiritual component which defines higher-level values of human existence.
