What’s So Uncool about Vernacular?

“Don’t speak vernacular.” That is a reprimand we often hear in schools, except in classes dedicated to that language.

I understood it. The reprimand was necessary for a formal school setting, in a country with multiple vernaculars. But what was and still is a bit more difficult to understand is the insistence of some parents that their children do not speak vernacular.

Speaking to children only in the English language is common and considered cool, especially among the elites. I think if it were possible, they would prefer their children come out of the womb crying in English.

I think those parents simply do not understand or perhaps have forgotten the kind of power and richness only found in the mother tongue, or why else would they deprive their children of experiencing all that richness that can only come from the deep understanding and appreciation of their mother tongue.

I often wonder how we got here, especially since I still haven’t found any edge those children have over others whose parents spoke to them in vernacular. Their knowledge of the English language is certainly not better.

So, what’s the point of it? Why is speaking to children in their mother tongue uncool at all?

Does anyone know the answer to this? Please share below in the comment section.