OCCULTISM IN SCHOOLS

Occultism as we all know involves exploration of the supernatural by means of divination, spiritism among others, thus, things not seen by the physical.

Gone are the days when the youth especially children did not know what occultism was all about, but, due to the proliferation of foreign movies especially Nigerian films – ‘Karishika’, 'Blood Billionaires', 'Bigger Boys', 'Last Wish', 'Exchange of Power', 'Knight of the Night', 'Last Occult', 'The Wolves' and Ghanaian movies such as; 'Malam Issa', 'Yahoo Yahoo', 'Cafe Guys, 'Ataara', 'Kyeiwaa', 'Otan ne Ahooya' just to mention but a few, such occultist movies make the young ones unduly superstitious and this situation can shatter their sense of logical evaluation of issues.

Two out of ten children between the ages of 5-9, three out of ten children between the ages of 10-12 and four out of ten children between the ages of 13-17 know what it means to practice occultism.  This sounds terrific, but that is the truth.

According to the Daily Graphic of 1^st September 2004, Evangelist John Dankwa in his letter is quoted as saying we should not make the mistake that it is only the youth who are involved in occultism.  There is no doubt about that, but the target of the battle should be aimed at them.  This is because if a child at the age of sixteen (16) can ignorantly be soaked in this practice what will become of him if he is appointed a headmaster or heads any such responsible institution in thirty years, any student who undergoes his training will be contaminated.

If one day we wake up to hear on air that Parliament has passed a Bill that all first and second cycle institutions including the tertiary level should teach and practice occultism, how would we feel? This is the situation we are trying to prevent from occurring.  “Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him”.  After all, we are fighting to make sure that we have a secured country to live in in future.

The question as to how this practice got its way into our schools cannot be gainsaid without looking at its areas of advertisement, i.e. the electronic and print media, the homes and special cognisance society gives to high calibre of people.

The aforementioned Nigerian films gave children the opportunity to see how the practice is carried out and what is involved in becoming a member, the children of practicing occultists directly or indirectly see their parents indulge in the practice at home or are introduced to it as a form of inheritance and the quest for attention from society has lured students into achieving academic excellence through this practice.

In trying to fight the practice in our educational institutions, the following should be noted.

The first battleground is the family and for that matter, the home. 

The family is the pivot upon which the society rotates in the inculcation of sound moral values. 

The awareness that one is a member of a particular family is a vital factor in influencing one’s behaviour. 

Moses in the Bible is a typical example whose stay in Pharoah’s house – a place of occultism, magic, Satanism, crystal balls and spiritism could not influence his identity as a Hebrew boy.
 

This awareness enables a person to behave in such a way as not to live a life of dishonour and bring embarrassment to his or her family, community and nation.

Absence does not bring up a child.  J.D. Eppinga said “Could I turn back the time machine, I would double the attention I gave my children and go to fewer meetings”.  Parents should not build their businesses and amass wealth at the expense of the future of their children.  They should monitor the activities of their children in their closets especially when they come on vacation.  Parents should not use Moses as an example to think that their children can also stand in the midst of the practice.  There have been cases where children of God-fearing parents got to these schools and their lives have turned from bad to worse due to their being initiated into the practice.

The second battlefield involves those who directly or indirectly influence the lives of students.  But the problem has to do with the ‘set a thief to catch a thief’ syndrome.  If the headmaster, housemaster or teacher is himself a senior member and the student a junior member of the cult in the school, do you think he can frankly expose the student?  This is a serious problem.

Religious groups in our schools such as the Scripture Union can in their own small way help in curbing this menace.  Those schools where the practice is more prevalent have banned Scripture Union meetings among students.  You would agree with me the impact Scripture Union is having on students.  Most outstanding men of God in the country have had their lives influenced positively by the inculcation of teachings by Scripture Union in their schools.

The practice in our educational institutions is a very critical national issue and if not tackled spiritually, will jeopardize the future leaders and the nation at large.