Child Rearing Practices in Sidama Zone Bultuma Kebele
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Date
2007-05
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Child rearing is culture bound in the sense that culture is central in understanding the
practice oj child rearing in any selling. Theories like contexualist theory and ecological
system approach theories take into account the cultural nuances oj child rearing which
affect the development and rearing oj children. This study has set out to understand the
child rearing patterns and practices oj the Sidama as its Jundamental objective. To
identify the Jeatures and patterns oj child rearing and to reach at the findings oJ this
study different methods were used. A questionnaire with a variety oj items on important
aspects oj child rearing practices was prepared to collect data Jrom two-hundred sample
population and Focus Group Discussions as well as interviews were held with various
members oj the Bultuma kebele (peasant association) which is where the research was
conducted.
The Jollowing aspects oj child rearing came out clear as among the most vital
characteristics oj child rearing among the Sidama. Child rearing has the goal oj
ensuring conJormity and acceptance oj parental interest. Thus the child rearing practices
are Jocused on iii/filling the desires and interests oj parents. Children are generally
regarded as assets, with economic as well as social values oj guaranteeing economic
security or social prestige mainly because they continue lineage and carry the names oj
their parents in the Juture. The value that is given to children in the society is also related ...
with the parental treatment in which parents demand total obedience and respect from
the children and use different methods including physical punishment to get that. The
'good' or 'bad' characters oj children are seenJrom this angle oj accepting the authority
oj adults with out questioning.
There are important and unique childcare systems among the Sidama. For example, toilet
training and weaning take place according to the convenience of the mother but not the
child and they appear to be issues, which are much less eventful in their importance in
the relationship oj children and their parents. This is mainly because the baby will not be
Jorced to wean unless otherwise a pressing issue like pregnancy occurs. When we come
to toilet training the baby is toilet trained since the time oj inJancy as he/she is helped toeliminate outside of a dipper and as a result the toilet training experience tends to be
smooth and gradual avoiding tension between parents and children.
Another equally important aspect in child rearing among the Sidama, is the fact that
good parenting is largely equated with the parents' ability to make sure that the basic
needs of children are met. In this regard neighbors and relatives also contribute their
share and mostly their help is more than material. In Sidama culture extended families,
neighbors and relatives are in the inner circle of the child in which they care, love,
groom and sometimes punish the child.
The Sidama children are not passive subjects in the whole process. They start to assume
different roles and responsibilities as early as .five years, which starts with little house
hold chores and they continue to contribute their share in the economic and social
endeavor of the family
In a context where there is little econamic dynamism, class difference and in a context
where the ways of life in the society are not much differentiated the culture is bound to
have more weight in defining child rearing than any other factor. The values and beliefs
about children, the parental treatment and the childcare systems are similar, over age,
sex or economic activity of the respondents. Economic status is more or less similar to all
the inhabitants of the community under study mainly because of similar economic activity
that the population under study is engaged in. As a result of this the child rearing
practices of the area under study are also similar except some minor individual
differences.
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Keywords
Child Rearing Practices