It wasn’t hard to send IdaraAbasi off to bed on Monday night, as we had been counting down for days now to her kindergarten graduation; we had picked out her outfit weeks before and had gone over her recitals and presentations together. Tuesday morning finally came and we could barely hold back our joy; Idara went off to school excitedly in her beautiful ball dress and we joined her as a family at the start of the ceremony.

What a delight to see the other precious little humans with whom my daughter had shared learnings, laughter and memories in the classroom. They sang their hearts out with accompanying actions, as they showcased what they had learnt in the school year. Listening to their teacher speak about all of them and generally provide updates about their progress provoked my tear glands; my heart truly blessed her and the entire team that worked together to make learning such a beautiful experience for them.

I particularly loved the fact that all the kindergartners wore tee-shirts that bore the inscription “Class of 2035” which is the year they would finish from high school. “So perfect”, I thought. It forced me to think about IdaraAbasi in the ‘not-so-distant’ future and was the friendly reminder I needed that “whatever I wanted to see IdaraAbasi become in 2035 and beyond, the work starts now”.

We moved on very quickly to the distribution of certificates, taking of pictures and general celebrations. It was a joy to meet Idara’s best friend, Elena, whom she always spoke about at home. Two beautiful, innocent 5 year olds; bound by pure hearts and undiluted love. I met Elena’s mum as well, we exchanged contact details just so we could plan play dates for both of them during the summer holidays.

Everything went beautifully well and the celebration left me in a state of gratitude to God for the journey thus far and a renewed confidence in his ability to guide us through the days ahead. As we made the drive back home, I began to reflect on the activities of the day. It was all bright, beautiful and joyful but there was this huge level of discomfort I was feeling which I just couldn’t dismiss; I went through all of the events till I recognised it.

The design of the CERTIFICATE! That was it. It was done in an array of colours that I had come to recognise and associate with a certain movement; “Kindergarten”, which was printed boldly on top of the certificate was outlined in the colours of the rainbow, but in reverse fashion. I fought hard to unsee what I was seeing, and unthink my thoughts; In fact, I went on google to confirm the ‘colours of the rainbow” and held the certificate against it to verify. In order to clarify my thoughts further, I asked Kamba “ The design of this certificate, is it rainbow themed, abi is it my eyes?” Trust Kamba, he replied in the affirmative, without mincing words.

The moment I established what it was, I felt a mix of emotions and an agitation in my Spirit at the effrontery, the audacity and the subtlety of their methods. I felt violated; like my grounds had been trespassed on. A part of you is probably thinking, “Funmi, it’s not that deep.  The rainbow is a child-friendly theme, and you are just making a fuss over a certificate.” It’s okay, I hear you.

Ordinarily I would love to just drink water and mind my own business, but I feel compelled to let you know that the forces that are fighting for a “share of mind” in your child’s life are not sleeping. Truth is, there is a movement that is working hard to impose their ideologies on your children, through subliminal messaging, with or without your consent. It’s a race for acceptability and top of mind awareness in your innocent and unsuspecting child. 

As adults, we already have the tools for making our choices based on our values, backgrounds, personal experiences, faith, aspirations etc and can essentially differentiate between good/evil and choose accordingly. Children on the other hand are ‘tabula rasa”, having no preconceived ideas, predetermined goals or innate ideas; they are essentially described as a blank slate, meaning that they become what we feed them or inscribe on their hearts.

Being a student of literature and a lover of language, I understand the concept and power of themes and I’m fascinated by the study of  semantics. Whenever I interact with a piece of art, in whatever form, I am constantly searching for its underlying theme i.e. the unifying idea or the core of the message being passed across. Also, in examining the concept of meaning as relates to words and symbols generally, I often drill beyond the literal and visible meaning to the indirect/hidden/implied meanings. 

Against the backdrop of the aforementioned, I wondered why the creative team behind the design of my daughter’s certificate chose those colours out of all the colours in the world. Being a marketing communications practitioner, I know that every element in a communication plan is undermined by a strategy that is designed to elicit a certain response or produce a result over a predefined period of time. There is always a goal in view and when these marketing campaigns are being pieced together, every single element (including fonts, colours, copy etc) is carefully selected and combined to drive home the point. 

Children are currently being targeted, exploited and victimised through subliminal messaging hidden in pictures, imagery, songs, books and other media that they consume. They are presenting the concept of the rainbow in ways that children would love and accept and essentially be drawn to. All of these things exist below the threshold of sensation or consciousness and are capable of affecting one’s mind, emotions and behaviour without being aware of it.

The crux of this write-up is simply to encourage all of us to wake up and do the work of aggressively immersing our children in the values and principles that we hold dear. Firstly because it is our God-given responsibility as gate-keepers and secondly because if you think you are too busy, the world is not; it is actively keeping vigil and strategising for the absolute destruction of the next generation in simple,creative ways that you would barely notice.

Instead of saying to yourself, “Funmi, you probably are overthinking this thing”, why not go back and review some of the books, movies, tv shows, games, social media, etc that your children have access to and see for yourself? I assure you unequivocally that you will find themes like violence, nudity, man’s inhumanity to man, the weakening of the family structure (particularly the father figure) etc intricately woven into beautiful storylines and delivered in bright and engaging content to your children. I recently discovered that this educational show that I really love and had endorsed for my children that teaches them to count and spell has all other numbers in solid colours while the number 7 is arrayed in the colours of the rainbow. Imagine! I assure you that these things are not mere coincidence, E get why!

Scrutinise everything around you objectively, and ensure that the things that your child is exposed to are things you approve of, which align with your values and your faith. There’s no room to be passive in today’s world; tend your farmland, so that it does not become a wasteland. 

Fight for a Share of Voice in your child’s life, it’s worth whatever it takes to get it. May we be greatly helped, in this journey of raising the next generation.