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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Child Rearing Practices

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