Normalize Bad Behavior?

Omowunmi

“Please wear your seatbelt,” I said to Glory, seated in the front. My driver quickly added, “Yes o, make Road Safety no catch me!”

That moment triggered a memory.

Over ten years ago, wearing seat belts wasn’t our culture — not for drivers, not for front-seat passengers. Even though the policy existed since 2003, serious enforcement didn’t begin until 2005. But once consequences kicked in, behavior began to shift. Today, wearing a seatbelt feels like second nature. Why? Because there were penalties.

In other words, having policies in place is not enough; institutionalizing the implementation with consequences is key.

It reminded me how easily we normalize bad behavior — not because we don’t know better, but because there are rarely consequences. People and organizations act with impunity, and we all just “move on.”

Here are a few examples that have somehow become “normal” in our society:

• Sexual abuse and harassment: Whether male or female — too often, the abusers walk free.

• Flight delays and cancellations: No apology. No compensation. Just inconvenience and silence.

• Bribery and extortion: We’ve accepted “settling” someone as the cost of access.

• Littering: Trash on streets, gutters, and in marketplaces like it belongs there.

• Unnecessary honking and sirens: People blaring their horns out of impatience or syncing it with music from their radio (this one frustrates me )

• Jumping queues: Someone always believes the rules don’t apply to them.

• Bullying and verbal abuse: In schools, homes, and online — dismissed as “just playing” or “freedom of expression.”

• Urinating in public: Seen almost everywhere, from roadside corners to building fronts (this one annoys me )

• Disobeying traffic laws: From one-way driving to ignoring traffic lights — and doing it with confidence. Some will even say the camera is not working, police is not there.

• Lack of customer service: Businesses routinely ignore complaints or respond rudely — and customers are expected to "manage it."

I’m compiling a list. Can you share more examples of bad behavior we’ve normalized?

Let’s use this moment to reflect, speak up, and act.

You’re not normalizing bad behavior if you:

• Call it out — respectfully but consistently

• Report and follow up

• Teach the right thing at home and in our spaces

• Demand better from both public and private institutions

“The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything.” — Albert Einstein

Let’s stop watching. If not for our sake, then for the sake of the next generation.

Warmly,

Omowunmi