The “IFIKIE WAZAZI” hashtag which trended a few days ago on social media is an eye-opener.
I have been thinking about it for a while now and I have come to the conclusion that our youths lack role models. This lack of role model is the reason as to why they go astray.
This is the internet age and we cannot bury our heads in the sand and pretend that our children are not seeing and hearing things.
Our children own smartphones and with the proliferation of information, videos and (fake) news, they probably know more than their parents.
When they are faced with challenging/complex situations, they look around for help but who do they turn to.
Pastors?
With all the bad publicity that many rogue pastors have gotten in the recent past, do you think a teenager can trust such a person?
A person who preaches water but drinks wine?
How many times have we heard, read and watched from our televisions/phones that a pastor was caught pants down or that a pastor swindled money from his congregation by performing fake miracles?
What about our political leaders?
Can they make good role models for our youths?
Your guess is as good as mine.
We have not only watched grown-ups (honorable, sic) fighting each other and calling each other names in county assembly halls.
From Wajir to Nyeri to Nakuru.
We have been treated to free drama of the honorable pulling each other’s hair and tearing each other’s clothes.
Let us not even talk about the corrupt ones who steal public funds and disobey court orders.
If our political leaders are the agents of impunity, what then do we expect from our youths?
What about our parents?
Well, they are busy chasing money.
Most children are left in the care of the house helps as parents are busy working late in a bid to clinch more tenders or get that promotion. And after work?
Well, they would rather pass by the bar and get one for the road.
By the time they arrive at home, their children are already deep asleep.
The trend continues the next day, the next week and next year.
And the issue of sponsors?
Who are these sponsors?
Are they not the same married men and women whom the pornographic photos are supposed to get to?
Can our “disciplined” forces show our youths the correct way?
What with police brutality that is aired on our television screens almost every month?
What about our elder sisters and brothers?
Can they show the younger ones the right direction?
Are they not the self-proclaimed slay queens and slay kings?
What of our artists? Our musicians?
The real kioo cha jamii.
When they go around pulling women’s dresses, what good can our youths learn from them?