In the wake of calls for Ghana Police, Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, and the Department of Social Welfare to take necessary action against actress Akuapem Poloo for causing distress to her son, experts have sent out a word of caution to parents.
Though the actress has apologised, she has been heavily criticised by Ghanaians for releasing a nude photo she took of herself and her seven-year-old son.
Legal practitioner Maurice Ampaw, speaking to GhanaWeb in an interview has advised parents to stop bathing and showing their naked bodies to their children when they reach age three.
He warned that when kids are constantly exposed to such pornographic things, it does a great disservice to them by corrupting their minds.
“It is not good for a father to bath with his son and a mother to bath her daughter. So we should not go nude before our children, and we are spoiling our children. You may not publicise the nudity of our children but we are definitely spoiling our children,” He told GhanaWeb.
Mr Ampaw entreated parents to also hide their sexual activities at home; adding that women should be able to control themselves in the lovemaking process.
“We should try and hide our sexual activities at home. So women should stop moaning loud. They should stop making noise when they are making love. They should be able to control themselves. In the course of lovemaking, when you scream and shout, you commit what we call a sexual nuisance. And at the same time, you are spoiling the minds of these children.”
He reiterated that the children in their formative years copy blindly whatever parents do in front of them, hence parents should be cautious of what to do in front of their children, their utterances, and conduct.
“Using abusive language, insulting behaviour. These days, we easily insult and we normally use abusive languages at home. These have negative effects on our children. Now through social media, we have been exposing our children to violent behaviour. So parents should be cautious of what to do in front of their children, their utterances and conduct,” he told GhanaWeb.
Samuel Anaglattey, Head of Foster Care Services Unit at the Department of Social Welfare supporting the maverick lawyer’s comments, advised that it is prudent for parents to desist from things that pose danger to their children.
“From 3 years or even less, don’t ever go naked in front of your child, be it a male or female. These are some of the things that pose danger to innocent kids,” Mr Anaglattey added.
This is a file photo