Just like their guardians.

Read today’s ‘In the News’ about the five-year-old Siberian girl who was raised by dogs and cats from the age of two and a half years old. She barks just like the dogs and lapped up food from the plate like cats and dogs.

From ‘The Sun’ newspapers, dated 30 May 2009, was a report on other children brought up by animals. There was this Russian boy who was reared by a guard dog. He walked on all fours and behaved exactly like a dog. Another case was the ‘Monkey Boy’ of Uganda who walked with the monkeys on his knees. He imitated the way monkeys approached other monkeys. Then, there was the well-known two little Indian girls raised by a female wolf. Like the wolf, they ate meat, howled and walked on their hands and feet. And there was a young girl reared by a bear in Jalpaiguri, India. Her behaviour was so bear-like; biting, scratching, growling and moving like a bear.
Are you surprised at the behaviour of the children raised by animals. We shouldn’t be. Look around you. I remember the children of one of my landlords walking so much like his father that had they been of the same size, height and with their backs turned towards me, I would easily have mistaken one for the other. This landlord is singled out as he had a peculiar walk which his children somehow manage to imitate very well.

For others, it could be the voice. So similar to the parents were the voices of some grown children that we could not differentiate them and thought the other person was on the phone at a good number of times.

I have also noticed how vulgar some children are. Visit their homes and, unless they have been under much peer group influence; their parents speak just like their children.

The mannerisms are easily noticed in a good number of families. The children either followed the mother or the father, perhaps depending upon which being the dominant parent in their roles as parents or frequency of association.

From here, it is obvious the important role parents play. Because they are the first teacher, also the first model in everything the child learns, parents must be careful to ensure they always portray themselves well to their children. Habits that are good should be exhibited to the children but not those that are detrimental to their development, be it physical, health, spiritual or moral.