News
‘Introduce children to hobbies, not phones’
A child with a phone
A registered member of the Ghana Psychology Association (GPA), Dr May Wulff-Caesar, has advised parents to be interested in technology to enable them have more control over the devices of their children.
She said learning about technology could also help parents to monitor activities of their children on the phone.
She said this last week during a virtual seminar organised by the Mental Health Authority (MHA) on the topic, ‘conquering phone addiction: sharing real life experience.’
“As parents, we need to introduce hobbies to our children which will enable them get off the screens in addition to extra curriculum activities that will keep them busy and away from the devices,” she said.
Dr Wulff-Caesar said studies have proven that excessive use of cell phones could lead to anxiety and depression where persons addicted to their smartphones were more likely to experience mental health issues such as chronic stress and low emotional stability.
She said it would be beneficial for parents to set rules and regulations as well as some activities that would take the attention of children off the phone.
“Studies have proven that excessive use of cell phones could lead to anxiety and depression where persons addicted to their smartphones were more likely to experience mental health issues such as chronic stress and low emotional stability,” she added.
Some negative effects of phone addiction, Dr Wulff-Caesar said were exposure to radiation, changes in cognitive ability, problems with social or emotional skills, problems sleeping and mental laziness.
The Deputy Director, Health Promotion, MHA, Dr Amankwa Arthur, said using phones for research purposes and assignments had increased children’s addiction, adding that “it is toxic and worrying.”
According to Dr Arthur, poor family relationship and boredom were some of the contributory factors to the menace, adding that children find solace with the phone rather than having a quality time with the family.
A Clinical Psychologist and Lecturer at the University of Ghana, Dr Seth Mawusi Asafo, said although the contributory factors were enormous, it was necessary to build a broad range of activities for children and other persons affected to manage boredom to prevent the attitude of being on the screens very often.
In order to get the children off the addiction, Dr Asafo urged parents to be moderate and patient with children when dealing with the challenge.
By Spectator Reporter
News
Swallowed by the Sea! …Keta’s coastal lines, landmarks, efforts to preserve heritage
The Atlantic Ocean is no longer a distant blue horizon for the people of Keta.
It now circles around their doorsteps, uninvited, unrelenting, pulling down walls and other structures, erasing memories, and threatening lives.
Hovering precariously between the restless sea and the Keta Lagoon, this once-thriving coastal town is slowly being obliterated.
Salt water has become both a physical and metaphorical threat, dissolving the town’s past as fast as it claims its future.
Madam Aku Atitso, 62, lives in a crumbling former Prisons Service quarters – one of the few structures still standing on the eroded stretch of Queen Street.
She sits quietly at the entrance, preparing a modest breakfast for herself and her granddaughter.
The air is thick with salt and silence. “The sea took everything,” she says softly. “My husband’s nets, our mattress, our memories all gone overnight.” Her voice trembles. “This place too is dying. But it’s the last place with a roof over my head.”
A few metres away, Aunty Esinam, 79, watches the sea from a low stool beside a wooden shelter. Her eyes do not blink. “That spot,” she points, “used to be someone’s living room, a whole family lived there”.
It’s not just homes that are vanishing. Landmarks that anchored Keta’s cultural identity are disappearing one after another. The once-imposing Fort Prinzenstein, a haunting relic of the transatlantic slave trade is now more of a ruin than a monument.
the encroaching waters along Keta’s
coast.
encroaching waters along Keta’s coast
The colonial-era Bremen factory, the old cinema where generations of children once laughed at flickering black-and-white films is also gone.
Queen Street, once the town’s bustling backbone, is now a watery corridor choked with debris.
Standing atop a section of the sea defence wall, 69-year-old retired teacher Efo Kwasi Agbeko surveys what remains.
“The first police station is mostly gone,” he says, gesturing part of the building stuck in the sea sand, only ruins and a few rooms remain.
“This town is fighting, but the sea is winning,” he said.
Even the Cape St. Paul Lighthouse, Keta’s historic sentinel, leans perilously toward the water, and fishermen say holes in the shore are opening more frequently, sometimes every week.
That leaves a thick cloud of uncertainty hanging around the historic town of Keta.
Once upon a time, it was a vibrant town noted for business but currently left with ruins with a few of the residents watching in awe the sea’s devastation.
From: Geoffrey Kwame Buta, Keta, Volta Region
News
Ghanaians climax Easter with fun-filled activities
Christians around the world and other faith based groups last Monday climaxed the Easter celebration with a number of fun-filled outdoor and indoor activities.
With streets empty, fun seekers stormed church premises where picnics were held while others partied in many ways.
Others spent the day at the various beaches and music and film shows occupying the others.
velleyball competition
at the Laboma Beach
Church in Tema Community 8 engaged
in a number of activities including the
popular draught competition
At the churches, participants engaged in bible reading, football, volleyball, playing cards, table tennis, horse racing, bouncing castles, swimming and oware.
one of the picnic venues
Others played ludo, tag of war, lime and spoon, draught, music competitions among others.
The Spectator captured some of the exciting scenes around Accra-Tema for the benefit of readers.
Story & pictures by Victor A. Buxton
