Babies are highly attuned to the emotional states of their caregivers , especially their mothers. When a mother is sad, a baby can pick up on various cues, such as changes in facial expressions, tone of voice, and body language. Here’s how babies might feel or react: 1. Empathy : Babies can sense their mother’s sadness and may feel distress themselves. They might cry or become fussy as a way to express their discomfort. 2. Attachment : Babies often seek comfort from their mothers when they sense sadness. They may reach out, cling, or want to be held close, seeking reassurance. 3. Confusion: Since babies are still developing their understanding of emotions, they might feel confused if they notice a significant change in their mother’s mood. 4. Stress Response : Prolonged sadness or stress in a caregiver can affect a baby’s stress levels, potentially leading to increased anxiety or irritability. 5. Learning Social Cues : Babies learn about emotions by observing their mothers. A mother’s...

The saying: “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it” ( Proverbs 22:6 ), suggests that early moral, ethical, and behavioral foundations laid during a child’s formative years create a lasting imprint, guiding their character and choices into adulthood. The implication is one of durability—proper upbringing acts as an anchor, keeping individuals aligned with those initial values even amidst external pressures or societal shifts. When applied to the perceived collapse of morality and nobility in some societies, this saying invites a few interpretations. If we observe a decline in virtues like honesty , integrity , or communal responsibility , it could imply that the formative training of newer generations has either shifted away from those values or failed to instill them effectively. The proverb assumes consistency—if the "way he should go" is no longer defined by traditional moral or noble ideals, then the outcome ref...

The claim that "society collapsed in morals and noble citizenship as a result of the failure of parents in raising their children effectively in formative years" isn’t directly tailored to developing countries like Nigeria, but let’s explore how it might resonate there, especially if we assume a "collapse" is evident. The idea ties moral and civic decay to parenting, so we’ll break it down through Nigeria’s lens—where economic, social, and cultural dynamics add layers of complexity. Is Collapse Evident in Nigeria? First, let’s test the premise. Nigeria faces undeniable challenges: corruption is rampant (it ranked 150th out of 180 on Transparency International’s 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index), insecurity like banditry and Boko Haram persists, and poverty affects 87 million people (World Bank, 2023). X posts from today—like one saying Nigeria is in a “full-blown normative collapse”—echo a sentiment of eroding right and wrong. You could argue this looks like a mora...

That’s a bold claim to unpack—let’s dig into it with some reasoning and evidence, while keeping it grounded. The idea hinges on a few assumptions: first, that society has collapsed in morals and noble citizenship; second, that parenting in formative years is the primary driver of those qualities; and third, that parents have broadly failed at it. Let’s take these one by one. Has Society Collapsed in Morals and Noble Citizenship? This is subjective and depends on how you define "morals" and "noble citizenship." Historical comparisons are tricky—people have been lamenting moral decline since Socrates griped about the youth of Athens . Today, you could point to rising polarization, declining trust in institutions (e.g., Gallup polls show U.S. trust in government dropped from 70% in the 1960s to 22% in 2023), or stats like the FBI’s violent crime data (which spiked during the pandemic but has since eased). On the flip side, global metrics like literacy, life expectan...