Left-Handedness and Conformity | Akaba James

“If a child can’t learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn.” — Ignacio Estrada

Historically, left-handedness has often been met with resistance, particularly in childhood. In earlier times, children who exhibited signs of left-handedness were frequently subjected to corrective measures by their parents, aimed at suppressing the use of their dominant left hand in favor of the right. These measures included physically restraining the left hand by tying objects to it or discouraging its use through various means, all in an attempt to align the child with societal norms. This practice, however, is a direct challenge to nature and innate abilities.

In the realm of education, Socrates likened the role of a teacher to that of a midwife, emphasizing the importance of nurturing a child's natural abilities rather than reshaping them. Attempting to convert a left-handed child into a right-handed one disregards the child's inherent tendencies and potential. Left-handed individuals have demonstrated remarkable success in various fields, with prominent figures such as the left-handed Benjamin Netanyahu who is Israeli Prime Minister and Barack Obama, a left-handed dreamer who ascended to the presidency of the United States, exemplifying that handedness does not determine one's capacity for achievement.

Why, then, has there been such a historical push in some communities like mine in Bamenda, to force left-handed children to conform? What influenced past generations to adopt this practice, and does it still persist today? If today, you had a baby with a more active left hand, would you try to convert the child to a right-handed individual? If yes, may we know one thing in life that right-handed people achieve which left-handed people cannot achieve?

While societies have rallied against practices such as female genital mutilation (FGM) as a matter of human rights and individual dignity, the forced suppression of left-handedness, though relatively rare, has not received comparable scrutiny or advocacy.

What is often perceived as an effort to enforce conformity may, in reality, be an inadvertent suppression of a child's potential. Recognizing and nurturing individuality should take precedence over outdated societal expectations, ensuring that each child has the opportunity to develop and thrive according to their natural inclinations.

When we plant seeds in the soil, each one grows according to its own unique identity. A pawpaw seed will grow into a pawpaw tree, while a bean seed will produce a bean plant — all from the same soil. Each seed carries its own DNA, its blueprint of life, and the soil’s role is simply to nurture that originality, not to alter it.

In the same way, the world should be an enabling space that supports diversity in its purest form, allowing each individual to develop according to their inherent gifts and identity. We should not try to force a bean seed to become a pawpaw tree.

The same principle applies to the classroom: it should be a nurturing environment where every learner is supported to grow into their true self, not molded into a version of someone else’s expectation.

- Akaba James | Open Dreams

...

Reactions from WhatsApp Groups

1) "I know one true-life case of a left-handed classmate of female gender who slowly but progressively retrogressed till she finally lost the punch that she had when we were in class one right up to four (in the primary). Because of efforts to force her to write with the clumsy right hand instead of her smart left hand, she finally could not cope as the material to manipulate progressively got more and more voluminous. By the time she was in secondary (in intermediate to form five), she would take very long to copy notes and worse still, to answer examination questions. She was still very keen to progress but failed the OLs at least eight times - because she could never answer the required (four) questions in the given number of hours. She would explain concepts and issues well, but since writing was the only mode of testing in those days, she found herself seriously handicapped; she finally quit schooling and began a desultory kind of existence that ultimately led her to an untimely death - a real case of fate and/or societal error causing the waste of potential. Whenever she made to do some other thing - manual, physical, etc - one could see how she smartly and dexterously employed the left hand to do whatever was there to be done. Only, whenever she had to use the pen, she would transfer it from her left to her right hand, since it had been drummed down her psyche right from childhood that lefthandedness was a stigma to be corrected😢. Then, onlookers would see her "plod" along with whatever she was obliged to write" - Tameh Valentine

2) "Thank you so much for this article. My son who is left-handed is one of the smartest children you will come across. Many people keep persuading me to suppress the use of his left hand, but I am adamant because I see it as tampering with nature. It brings forth confusion to the child and limits the child's ability. To my left-handed son, I love you the way you are" - Ndzerem Mildred

3) "Wonderful writeup. My vigilant observations show that there are more left-handed learners in the science background than in the art. But in as much as many have the left hand dominating over the right, when it comes to the value of respect as in our African context, left-handed persons neither give to nor take from elder or those in authority with the left hand. They will not extend the left hand to an elder for greetings. In these cases, the right dominates the left. This is what I have observed in communities that still uphold and cherish the value of respect" - Kpukisang Tar Emmanuel Paul 4) "I witnessed this a lot in my community in Small Ekombe Mbonge Sub-Division - Meme Division. Your write up is quite enjoyable but permit me say these;

• Have a really bad handwriting.

• Have a very large reaction time but for a few soccer players who are super smart and agile.

Likening this to fingers sucking leaves most of these kids very lazy and adamant to taking initiatives and endeavors which I think are the key to success of humankind. My kid sister was tortured for her to stop finger sucking by the smearing of pepper, bitter leaf, tying and loading it with a stone. As a teacher, scoring a lefty's worked scripts can be a tedious task to complete.' - Amin Smith

6) "It is against the Bamenda grass field culture to extend the left hand to greet someone or raise the left hand up to answer a question etc. It is considered as being disrespectful. That could be one of the reasons why some parents try to alter the destiny of their children" - unknown.