Being responsible

Marshall Bwanya
“With great power comes great responsibility,” are words that made Peter Parker become Spiderman, in the blockbuster movie “Spiderman”.
It is in this cliché some understand that position is not only a platform to exercise power but an avenue to demonstrate accountability for the same power you wield.
Within our social and moral fabric, responsibility is a key element for political, social and economical development.
Responsibility is the ability to act dutifully without supervision or guidance, because you are accountable and answerable for not only your own actions but that of family, community and nation as well.

Most young people unfortunately perceive responsibility as merely taking care of your own personal duties and answering for your own actions.
Although it has an element of truth responsibility, is not limited to only accounting for your own actions and duties only.

Thomas Sithole (23) supports the notion that responsibility yields positive results.
He said that during most of his teen years, he was involved in criminal activities and drug abuse.

“My only aspiration was not what am I smoking today and what am I drinking today. They came a time when I got in serious trouble when my friends and i assaulted someone under the influence of alcohol.

“I got into serious trouble. That is when I realised I had to change my behaviour and attitude towards life,” he said.
However, in a survey conducted by Cool Lifestyle, we found that last holiday a few teenagers instead of watching rugby during the Cottco Festival, allegedly got drunk, abused drugs and had unprotected sex under the influence of alcohol.

This angered a lot of parents who felt that their children had become deviant.
If you are responsible, you know how to do the right thing at the right time.

“Young people if you spend too much time in the presence of bad company, the temptation to smoke, have sex, club and drink will be too much for you overcome. You cannot be exposed to music and films of explicit content and not be diluted nor influenced by it. At the end of the day your behaviour and actions are moulded and shaped by what you hear and see. Remember an idle mind is the devil’s workshop,” explained one parent.

According to lifestyle coach and guru Michele Michael from Avondale, the heart is the key for responsibility.
“Maintain a principled lifestyle and guide your heart because out of it flow matters of life. Get busy by getting involved in constructive activities such as sport, music, debate, art and other activities. It is your responsibility to reach out and assist to correct some of the behavioural mistakes,” said Michael.

A person’s character is an epistle for all his/her friends, peers and siblings to read.
By making a responsible decision everyday you inspire someone who is looking at you from a distance.