THE RELEVANCE OF FOLKTALES IN IGBO CHILD TRAINING: A WAY TO CURB THE CHALLENGES OF INSTABILITY AND CORRUPTION

Abstract

This study examines the relevance of folktales in Igbo child training in curbing the challenges of instability and corruption. Folktale is a very important genre of traditional literature which plays a significant role in imparting tradition, culture, values, norms religious, education and social ideologies of the society to growing children. Folktales provide people an escape from the burdens and restrictions of society. They justify the institutions of a culture; teach morals and values and serve as forms of social control as well. We can easily see folktales that fulfil these functionsstories of wish-fulfilment and magic providing an escape from the drudgery of daily life, stories that explain the origins of a particular practice or idea, and stories that include morals or warnings about how to behave in the society. Of course, these are incredibly broad relevance, and they will manifest differently in different cultures. There are many more functions of folktales, or any kind of folklore, than just these. However, despite these sterling qualities of folktales, the traditional approach is being endangered with extinction giving way to modern approaches which is culturally empty, this has brought instability and corruption. The need therefore arises for contrasting the traditional methods and modern approaches where the latter intervenes in the propagation of good morals in children and its sustenance in society. It is observed that children stand to benefit from lessons derivable from folktales. The study concludes that folktales have various lessons imbibed in them. Some of these lessons include discipline, moral uprightness, hard work and courage. And when this is done, the issue of instability and corruption will be long gone or reduced to barest minimum