Rashid Ibrahim, President of the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS), has called on government to consider banning children below 15 years from using social media.

He said the measure would help shape children’s character and instil moral values, citing similar policies adopted in Australia, France and Indonesia.

Mr Ibrahim made the call during a panel discussion at the fourth Muslim Leaders and Catholic Bishops Meeting Dialogue held on the theme: “Addressing the Challenges of Rising Indiscipline in Our Schools: The Role of Faith-Based Organisations.”

“It looks like our kids are abusing social media too much and they must not be allowed to do that,” he said.

Mr Ibrahim, who is also a legal practitioner, said inadequate parental control and weak supervision in schools were contributing to rising indiscipline among students.

He said children should understand that misconduct attracted consequences, stressing the need for appropriate sanctions for juveniles who breached rules and regulations.

Mrs Lucille Hewlett Annan, Commission Secretary of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), urged parents to plan their lives with the upbringing and welfare of their children in mind.

“Taking care of children require money. It requires time. It requires a lot of resources, and it requires prayers,” she said.

Dr Haruna Zagoon-Sayeed, Senior Lecturer and Lead Convener of the Department of Religious Studies, University of Ghana, called for stronger government support for faith-based organisations to promote discipline in schools.

“Imagine a school with 2000 students and you have one chaplain who should be able to give the moral education that we expect,” he said.

Dr Zagoon-Sayeed said growing indiscipline among children reflected declining societal values and added that broken family structures deprived children of the nurturing needed for their moral development.

“Children will not misbehave if they don’t see misbehaviour in their environment,” he said.

Very Reverend Father Cosmos Ebo Sabah, Associate Professor at the University of Ghana, said educators should be given greater responsibility and authority to instil discipline in an education system that placed excessive emphasis on intellectual achievement at the expense of moral formation.