Celebrated Ghanaian rapper Okyeame Kwame delved into his approach to parenting in the digital era in a conversation with Edem Knight-Tay on Joy Prime’s Home Affairs.
The ‘Rap Dacta’ highlighted the challenges that come with raising children in an age dominated by social media and easy access to potentially harmful content like pornography.
Okyeame Kwame emphasized the importance of having open, non-judgmental conversations with his children about the realities of the online world, including the dangers of pornography. “Some of the problems that we foresaw was pornography.
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When my children became teenagers, we sat them down and talked about the dangers of some of the things they see online—the negative and positive effects of watching pornography,” he said.
Rather than instilling fear through religious or moral guilt, the rapper takes a more scientific and practical approach when discussing these issues with his children.
“It is not as though I am telling them that porn is bad, that there is a God in Heaven who will send you to hell if you masturbate.
Once children grow up and realize that those things don’t matter, they will go and do it,” he noted, suggesting that fear-based parenting can lead to rebellion.
Okyeame Kwame believes that by focusing on the real-world consequences and being open-minded, parents can create a space where their children feel comfortable sharing their experiences.
“We let them understand the scientific reasons why it is important to shield yourself against those things,” he added. He stressed that open conversations and transparency are key to building trust, which in turn can help children avoid making poor decisions.
“If you are open-minded and not judgmental, and you are having free conversations with your children, they will come and tell you at least 50% of the things they wish you knew. For the rest, you’ll have to use parental threats to find out.”
The rapper also shared how he and his wife have integrated social media into their children’s lives. Given the nature of their work in communications, their children were introduced to social media early on.
“Our children woke up to see us working on social media. When both of them were born, they saw us working at a communications company that built websites and managed social media pages of companies,” he said.
Okyeame Kwame revealed that they even set up digital footprints for their children from the day they were born.
“Immediately our child is born, the child gets a web-registered domain in their real name, and they get all their social media platforms registered so no one else can take them,” he explained, showcasing his forward-thinking approach to safeguarding his children’s digital identity.
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