CAIRO: The media as well as educational institutions have a major role to play in raising awareness about democracy and instilling the concept in children, Secretary General of the National Council for Motherhood and Childhood, Lamiaa Mohsen, said in a lecture titled “Nurturing Democracy in Children and Youth.”
The lecture was held Tuesday by the National Council for Motherhood and Childhood in cooperation with Cairo University.
“[The media and educational institutions] must promote the right of expression in the child which is an integral part in building skills and nourishing talents,” she explained.
Furthermore, Mohsen explained that we have to get rid of ill traditions that occur in the upbringing and have negative consequences on the character when the child grows up and that is the notion of “the parent is always right.”
“The child’s opinion is of utter importance and the parents must listen to it and put it into consideration, because even though it might be simple, it’s deep and has a futuristic vision,” she noted.
Mohsen also pointed out that the media must present programs which make the children believe and have faith that they are the future of the nation.
Prominent psychologist, Dr Ahmed Okasha, head of the Egyptian Association of Psychology, who spoke at the lecture, identified democracy as “the basis for the renaissance of any nation.”
The psychological wellbeing is related to the quality of life and democracy is also connected by it being the ability or belief that “I have a power, I can hold officials accountable,” he said.
“The respect and dignity of the individual are [key aspects of democracy] and what we had has been a revolution for our dignity,” said Okasha.
Okasha pointed out that we have to get rid of our oppressive patriarchal way of life in order to nurture democracy in our children and to have a true democratic nation.
“The conscience is built through the treatment by the parents then later in school, where the child takes on the conscience of the society,” he explained, citing behaviors such as cheating and bullying.
Furthermore, the society has to promote and build in children the concept of team work.
“Power, authority and money are not factors who make the person satisfied, it is their friends, family and belonging to a group, whether social, political, religious,” said Okasha.
The psychologist explained that the components of democracy are, first, the respect of others; second, dignity; third, justice, through which there is equality and everyone has an equal opportunity; and fourth, accountability, in which everyone is held accountable whether they are the president or the janitor.
“Why do we love soccer so much? Because there is transparency, accountability and exchange of authority,” he said.
“The citizen comes first in a democratic society,” Okasha pointed out.
He also said that we have to create the atmosphere for democracy in our country, for example we are lacking two main aspects of it and these are team spirit and cooperation, moreover we need to promote the idea of dialogue.
“Parents must be democratic in the way they raise their children, so that they won’t grow up to be someone who fears the unknown and hates change,” he said.
Okasha outlined the tools of a democratic upbringing, “First is the family, there must be emotional interactions between the members of the family,” adding that we have to beware of the internet and everyone glued to their computer screen.
Second, is the work institution, especially in the relationship between the supervisor and the employee. Third, having political parties, fourth, the media and fifth, highlighting the role of the youth.
On a final note, Okasha said, “The difference between democracy and chaos is the law, which is protected by the police [and the police won’t be powerful as long as] it is afraid of the citizen and the citizen is seeking revenge from the police.”
“No security, no democracy,” he concluded.
