Thika youths have been advised on the need to be self-dependent rather than being dependent on other people especially 'sugar mummies' or 'sugar daddies'.
Speaking at Makongeni Health Centre grounds on Wednesday during a youth's workshop, Hildah Kimata, a Thika-based life coach and counsellor, discouraged youths against looking for shortcuts in life saying that the consequences are dire.
"I hear nowadays you are calling them sponsors. This is the kind of nonsense that no young man or woman with youthful ambitions should subscribe to," said Kimata.
She added: "Youths must not be the ones to rely on the elderly. It should be the other way round. They are the future and the earlier they know how to depend on themselves the better."
Kimata noted that youths were fast developing what she termed as a 'dependence mentality' which was affecting their overall view of life.
"When you get used to handouts especially when you are at your prime age, you will never know how to make your own," Kimata said.
She advised the youths to start small and grow big saying that was the only way to guarantee themselves a promising and a self-reliant future.