Someone recently sent me a clip that has gone viral on Facebook: two children (my estimate is that they are 7 and 10) whose mother is scolding them for some misbehaviour. The mother asks them in Igbo to explain themselves, but they are unable to do so in proper Igbo. The older of the two suggests using the language he is more comfortable with (English), but the mother refuses. With the camera on them, they attempt to explain in barely comprehensible Igbo. There are numerous comments under the video from people who find it hilarious, and it was forwarded to me by a friend who expected that I would also find it amusing.
Perhaps age is making me less patient with nonsense because I couldn’t finish watching it. If those kids, at that age, spoke barely comprehensible English, their mother wouldn’t have found it funny enough to share on the world’s internet. My bet is that she wouldn’t have wanted anyone to know. I don’t find it amusing that our children cannot speak our languages. While I understand that there are sometimes practical reasons for this—such as being raised outside the country (the family lives, as far as the internet can tell, in South Africa) or being raised by parents from different language groups—it is an entirely different matter to find it entertaining. It should be something we are ashamed of rather than find hilarity in.
Igbo is on UNESCO’s list of languages threatening to disappear, and that should worry us. There is no reason why Igbo should be on the brink of extinction. There are more Igbo people—between 20 to 30 million ndiIgbo—than there are Dutch (17.6 million), yet the latter isn’t facing extinction. Growing up in Enugu, I knew children whose mothers were European and spoke their mothers’ Dutch and German without ever having to live in Holland or Germany. So why are there children with two Igbo parents unable to speak Igbo? And how is that supposed to be entertainment? Na wah.
Besides the fact that I find nothing hilarious in two Igbo children struggling with their language (and I am in no way blaming the children; they are not raising themselves), I do not support the idea of creating content involving children, especially when it revolves around scolding, mocking and punishment. I fail to understand the fascination with scolding one’s children and sharing it for the public to see/comment on. In the video, the older child begins to stutter at some point, and the mother scolds him for this, even mocking him, which of course doesn’t help the stuttering.
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Moreover, I don’t understand why anyone needs to film their children doing nothing extraordinary to share with the world. Maybe this is what happens when everyone can be a content creator and an influencer and whatever else, and get rewarded.
There is no shortage of folks engaging in all manner of tomfoolery for clicks and money, no talent needed. Just have a camera and the time to record and post. In this digital age, the lines between meaningful content and mindless entertainment are (becoming) increasingly blurred.
Unfortunately, the internet is an undiscriminating marketplace. It’s concerning to witness the proliferation of content that adds little to the collective discourse or cultural enrichment. As a society, I wish we were more discerning with the type of content we choose to post and the ones we choose to consume.
I am probably in the minority on this – the videos tend to do well and the particular clip of this woman and her children has almost a million views and tens of thousands of likes and laughing emojis. Perhaps, I am not the target audience for “reality shows.” I have never understood the obsession with Big Brother and like programmes. Why should I invest my time in watching a bunch of folks hanging around doing nothing worthwhile? Maybe the problem is me. It is likely I am turning into one of those curmudgeons so easily irritated by everything, and the clip of this woman and her children really is funny, and I need to lighten up (and not be so serious/critical all the time).
