UMC emphasises importance of proper child upbringing in digital age

Perturbed by the threats and harms that today’s social media platforms and digital technologies pose to the Muslim family, the University of Lagos Muslim Community (UMC), has recommended boundaries to put around technology to check the trend.

Speaking during the 18th yearly Ramadan lecture of UMC, its Chairman, Prof. Akeem Olaniyan, said technology has great impacts on the Muslim family and it is crucial to develop healthy habits to check the negative impact on the family.

“Everybody is concerned about building an upright family with good moral standards and discipline, but the advent of technology is making the process difficult and this has imposed on parents the need to be dutiful in fulfilling their obligations as Muslims.

“It is crucial to admonish ourselves on the impact of the positive and negative effects of the digital revolution and what needed to be done as Muslim parents with regards to training the children to fulfill obligations enjoined by Allah.

“Everybody is involved in the digital age and is affected one way or the other. It is becoming uneasy for a parent to train his or her children in accordance with the Islamic perspective because the distraction is higher compared to the 80s. Parents have to work 10 times more to be able to build an upright God-fearing child,” he admonished.

Guest lecturer, Vice Chancellor, Ahman Pategi University, Pategi, Kwara State, Prof. Mahfouz Adedimeji, while delivering a lecture on ‘The Muslim Family in the Digital Age’, said technology has positive and negative impacts on the Muslim family, noting that the harmful effects of technology are the bane of impulsivity, poor short-term memory, inattention and other learning difficulties among younger ones.

He attributed some of the causes of learning difficulties among children to the harmful effect of technology and phones, urging parents and guardians to guard their wards towards proper learning and inculcate in them religious values and good social etiquette.

“True Islamic religion emphasises the importance of family and its role in educating young people, promoting values because the nucleus of mankind is premised on the family.”

The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Folasade Ogunsola, who was represented by the Registrar, Oladejo Azeez, implored parents to take advantage of the season to fervently seek Allah’s mercy and blessing.

The Chairman of the occasion, Alhaji Hashim Oyekan, a former Commissioner for Environment and Physical Planning, urged every member of the family to play their roles by guiding the younger ones towards the path of seeking beneficial knowledge.

Member-elect, House of Representatives, Kafilat Ogbara, commended the community for ensuring Muslims are well informed about the digital revolution.

“Most of us thought we know a lot about Islam, but not so. In this digital age, as Muslims, we have no excuse at all to be ignorant,” Ogbara said.

She stated that the foundation matters most in a child’s upbringing and urged parents to be prayerful while raising their wards.

“There are parents out there who did their best to raise their children in the best way, but unfortunately they got it wrong. We must ensure we guide and monitor our children on the use of social media because who they follow on social media determines where they belong. Despite following Islamic activities on social media, you will still come across so many un-Islamic activities. As parents try as much as possible to guide and monitor your children when they assess social media,” she charged.