By Maina wa Mihiato
We are living in a tragic epoch. An era, where humanity, just like mythical past creatures like Ogres faces ‘extinction’ from the human psyche.
It is in this era where nudity has somewhat become the society’s ‘idol’, brutality, a definition code, drug-abuse a celebrity key and immorality a ‘uniform’ of generational acceptance. The surfacing of nude photos of teenagers in the social media last week, blatantly points to the reality of the magnitude of moral Armageddon we are sailing in.
The photos, allegedly, taken from ‘photoshoots’ in the Central Business District of Nairobi have sparked a heated national discourse, with questions being raised on the future of the current generation. The phenomenon has been attributed to what is christened as ‘Teen Rebellion.’ Apparently, the society’s failure manifests itself in the trajectory that the debate has taken-individual and institutional blame game.
Firstly, it’s human nature to sanctify him/herself. No one wants to be individually reprimanded, in a failure largely seen as a collective irresponsibility. Indeed, that is the sole foundation of our religions; that God sent His Son to save humankind from the yoke of earthly sin. Man, by nature is a fake perfectionist, who craves for a ‘sinless’ perception, even when he is wrong. Unfortunately, this malady seems to have shifted from the Shakespearean world (which is largely attributed to Western lifestyles) to our modern African living. The contrasts of the two were gargantuan; while people in the Shakespearean world resulted to even kill one another to prove their ‘innocence’, Africans took up responsibilities if they erred. This is evident in tragic plays such as Othello, Julius Caesar and The Merchant of Venice; where themes of revenge, anti-Semitism (modern racialism) and betrayal are the key anchors of such societies. And though these events took place as early as the 16th century, they have been carried on to generations.
For instance, incidents of mass gun shooting are almost getting out of hand in the United States, to an extent of the current government contemplating on ways of regulating ownership of guns. That wave of violence and little or no regard for the sanctity of human life points to an erroneous historical foundation of the Western Societies-which is proving to be a great lifestyle catastrophe. ‘ Unlike the Western societies, we have a foundation we can anchor our discourse on. It is in this regard we must sober ourselves, ‘Africanize’ our psyches, widen the scope and avoid unnecessary blame games as we pursue this debate. In this context, ‘Africanization’ means that every stakeholder- parents/guardians, teachers, and heads of institutions of learning where most of these teenagers are in must seize the moment and slay the dragon before it’s too late.
Africanization would also refer to ‘indigenization’ of this debate to involve the teens themselves to foras where they will be given a chance to give their perspectives on what really ails them. My conviction is, given that most of the teens are active millennials (born in late 1990s and early 2000s), a friendlier approach will provoke a sense of second thought among them. Secondly, there is a great environmental gap between them, and their guardians. While most of the parents are conservative religio-cultural believers, most of the teens are a hyperactive, tech-savvy generation. Therefore, there must be a very meticulous way to ‘unite’ the two, given that their mindsets and cultural outlooks are very diverse. One of the most progressive approaches will be to appreciate these differences on both sides.
Guardians, on one side must ‘tone down’ their strictness, to avoid unnecessary acts of defiance and rebelliousness from their children. On the other side, the teens must accept a pact to be responsible internet users, to avoid corrupting their moral standings. With such a pact, our society will harmoniously transform itself from a conservative mindset to a modern one, without unnecessary hullabaloos of generational conflict, such as in the West and other parts of the world.