By Josfyn Uba
She was originally an economist but her desire to help her students clarify their thoughts, feelings, and provide them with valuable information about their personal abilities, interest, educational opportunities was stronger. So much so that she switched over to another career path.
Today, she is Ph.D. holder in guidance and counseling. That is Dr. Kaizar Victoria Omenebele of Psychology Department, Dennis Osadebey University, Asaba, Delta state.
In this interview with Daily Sun, she talked about different stages of adolescence development and how poor socialization can lead to negative outcomes that affect adolescents, both in short and long term.
What particular experiences or cases influenced your work in this area?
As a secondary school economics teacher, I discovered that a lot of students select subjects that will not provide them with favourable combinations in higher. Given the courses covered in the school leaving certificate, students are rarely able to enroll in the course of their choosing. I realized then that they required experts to guide them in selecting the appropriate subjects. Another instance involved three children who sobbed every day after school ended in the elementary school near the senior school where I worked as a teacher. The anguish they experience at home will make them refuse to return. When their father gets home from work, he uses their mother as a punching bag. They cry and refuse to go home because of the daily suffering their mother endures. Then, I realized that our society’s youngsters need assistance.
What are some of the most pressing issues facing adolescent girls in Nigeria today?
Some of the most pressing issues facing adolescent girls in Nigeria today stem from societal, cultural, and economic factors that disproportionately impact girls compared to boys. These issues severely hinder girl child’s development, economic, and general well-being. Some of the issue are that, many girls are denied education due to poverty, some forced into early marriage, sometimes, the girls are not sent to school due gender based violence, insecurity in some parts of Nigeria, gender discrimination etc.
How do cultural practices and beliefs impact on education and upbringing of girls?
In Nigeria, cultural attitudes and beliefs significantly shape the education and upbringing of girls. These influences can be both positive and negative, affecting access to education, societal expectations, and personal aspirations. One of the most profound impacts on girls’ education in Nigeria stems from traditional gender roles. it is believed in many communities that a woman’s primary responsibilities lie within the home as caregivers and homemakers. This leads to prioritizing boys’ education over girls’, as families may perceive a girl’s education as less beneficial due to the expectation that she will eventually marry and assume domestic duties. This, of course results in lower enrollment rates for girls in schools compared to boys. The belief that sons will provide financial support to their parents in old age while daughters are expected to join their husbands’ families also shapes the education and upbringing of girl child in Nigeria.
In what areas do you think that counselors can support girls who are battling with such issues?
Counselors can support girls dealing with bullying, violence, or trauma by establishing a safe environment where girls feel comfortable expressing their feelings and experiences related to bullying, violence, or trauma. Providing emotional support by making them to understand that their emotions are normal reactions to abnormal situations which will help rebuild their self-esteem and confidence that may have been damaged due to negative experiences. Teaching coping strategies, to enable them manage stress, anxiety, and emotional pain associated with bullying or trauma. Techniques like deep breathing exercises, mindfulness practices, journaling, and engaging in physical activities can be taught to help them cope effectively with their feelings. Developing problem-solving skills, guide them in identifying safe ways to address bullying situations or seek help from trusted adults when needed.
Encourage them to engage in positive relationships with peers, involving parents/guardians; collaborate with schools, and referring them to additional resources when necessary.
When addressing the needs or problems of children raised in dysfunctional environment, no specific technique is required but a combination of several counseling techniques, such as Play Therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Trauma-Informed Care, Family Therapy and Art Therapy. Employing these techniques is based on the child’s unique needs. The choice of technique should consider the child’s age, developmental stage, specific challenges faced due to their upbringing, and personal preferences regarding expression.
Are there documented studies that prove that being exposed to strenuous labour or toxic working conditions from an early age affects the development of a child?
There are many documented studies that prove that being exposed to strenuous labour or toxic working conditions from an early age affects the development of a child. For example, the International Labor Organization has stated that strenuous working conditions are damaging to a child’s education and psychological and physiological development. They also found out that children who engage in such jobs are exposed to dangers, which could jeopardize their health or morale.
Children who walk or engage in strenuous labour are exposed to dangers, such as getting injured by industrial machinery, risks of falling objects from industries in which they are involved, inhaling hazardous pesticides or chemicals or being abused by the employees. In places like homes where the children are used as housemates, we have seen cases where children are being flogged so much that their backs and bodies are battered and sore, and some are being burnt with a hot iron. Their employers use hot iron to stamp their back or their lap, and sometimes their buttocks.
So all these things affect their development, health, mental state, and emotions, and based on this, the children will be affected negatively, even till the adolescent stage, because they harbour experiences that can never be forgotten throughout their lifetime.
Have you witnessed such situation yourself during the time of your practice (you can go into detail describing anonymously if you wish to do so?
I have witnessed such a situation in my neighbourhood during my practice as a counselor. It was a situation where a child took a biscuit from her madam’s shop to eat. The woman used a hot iron to press the child’s hand. I also learned that sometimes she uses hot iron to press the child’s buttocks or laps. It is very devastating because no woman can do that to her own child, but because these children are maids in the house, they do anything to them.
I know a child that was flogged by her madam to the extent that her back became sore, simply because she could not complete the house chores before her madam returned from the market. The child bore indelible scars that can never leave the body in their lifetime. So I confronted the madam and her husband, and I went further to invite the child’s parents, who now came and took their child from her.
What effect could poor socialization cause in adolescents in the long term?
Poor socialization can lead to various negative outcomes that affect adolescents, both in short and long term. The adolescent stage is a crucial stage of development, so poor socialization can lead to various negative outcomes that can affect adolescence. Such negative effects include a decline in academic performance. A frustrated and an unhappy child will hardly focus on his academic work. Also, the adolescent period is when adolescents seek peer acceptance, so when normal socialization is lacking in a child, the consequences include a decline in motivation and social skills. It also causes unhealthy relationships and deviant behaviour, such as fighting, drug abuse, drinking, and criminal activities. It affects relationships with their parents and teachers.
I can say that poor socialization has a negative impact on adolescents’ mental health because an adolescent that is not mentally stable will find it difficult to be controlled by their parents or even teachers, and they might engage in criminal activities too.
In a nutshell, poor socialization in adolescents can result in poor mental health, deviant behaviour, taking drugs, smoking, fighting, poor academic performance and unhealthy relationships.
We have seen cases of exploited children i.e., underage housemaids becoming dangers to themselves and others due to frustration on the job and so on. As a psychologist, how could these be linked directly with developmental problems in any case?
As a child psychologist and counselor, I can relate and link these impacts of exploitation, or working on toxic conditions by underage children, to their developmental problems. A child who is being exploited will have emotional, developmental, and behavioral problems. All these have long term consequences. You can see a child that has now cultivated abnormal behaviour due to manhandling and starvation by their caregivers. They can end up turning to drugs, because they feel worthless and would not see life as anything anymore. So, they can do anything, to anybody around them without thinking of the consequences.
We have seen cases of exploited children or under age house maids becoming dangerous to themselves, and the children left their care due to frustration and the job. Sometimes this under age, housemaids are made to work without food, and if they fail to complete their job, they are beaten, sometimes tortured with hot pressing iron, giving them indelible marks on their body, sometimes they are pushed outside the house till the next morning.
In such situations, the child becomes dangerous to himself and the people around him, due to frustration, and out of frustration, he will vent his anger on the madam’s children, when the madam is not around. These children sometimes become heartless, dangerous to themselves, as well as children left under their care. We have seen cases where housemaids starve the children they are supposed to take care of, throw away their food, leave them unattended, punishing the babies as if they were responsible for their being beaten, and refusing to bathe them until it is almost time for the madam to return home. So the madam returns and finds the child sleeping, and may never know what has happened when she was away.
In fact, their behavior is as a result of being beaten on a daily basis. So because they have become used to being beaten, they turn to be heartless, and do anything without a second thought. It is really a terrible state.
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