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Mpumelelo Nyoni
MORAL decadence among the youth in the country, and in Bulawayo in particular, has been increasing at an alarming rate. Just last week, reports in this paper revealed that in May this year, juvenile criminal cases heard before the magistrates’ courts at Tredgold shot up by 266 percent from 9 in April to 24. Of the 24 cases, 20 involved sexual offences which include rape and aggravated indecent assault with social critics attributing the increase to Western ideals like individualism taking over African values of Ubuntuism/isintu/hunhu which promotes the collective growth of a society.
When reading these statistics, one is jostled into analysing the reasons behind this overhaul of African culture among youths and a walk in the city’s Central Business District shows a sad sight. One is shocked by the sight of school-going children, clad in uniforms smoking cigarettes at the City Hall taxi rank during school hours. Perhaps even more worrying is that adult passersby old enough to be the misguided youths’ parents make no attempt to admonish these youths. The adult passersby seem oblivious of the health risks associated with smoking.
As someone who grew up in a conservative middle-class family in the 1990s and raised by parents with a strong rural background, I find the socio-economic situation prevailing in Bulawayo worrying to say the least.
On Wednesday, business in Bulawayo’s CBD came to a standstill amid fears of hooliganism and looting that was going on under the guise of “protests” and “stay-aways”. Rowdy protesters, mostly youths, with no particular objective and driven by frustration with the status quo were involved in violent and isolated clashes with police and have since appeared in court. Frantz Fanon’s seminal text Wretched of the Earth, in the chapter titled “Concerning Violence” opines that, “The settler owes the fact of his very existence, that is to say, his property, to the colonial system”. In other words, the protests on Wednesday had no clear conception of who the enemy really is and Fanon shows that the residues of the colonial system are still affecting this great nation. Protest for protest’s sake is a self-defeating exercise and the school-going youths smoking cigarettes in public is another example of the negative effects of regressive protests.
Globalisation, the process of interaction and integration among people, companies and governments of different nations and driven by international trade and investment and aided by information technology has led to a breakdown of communication between parents and the youth. These two groups, due to a generational gap, often find themselves at opposite ends of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) spectrum that makes it hard for mutual understanding to be realised.
Social commentator, Reverend Paul Damasane says the neo-colonialist agenda has become more sophisticated and that the problem among today’s youths is not merely that of identity but also of philosophy.
“As a child progresses through adolescence his/her cultural expressions and thought patterns begin to change. Western media and its images have caused the commodification of women, resulting in prostitution among the youth.”
“A sustained colonial agenda has resulted in disorientation among youths as members of the community.”
Rev Damasane says there is a need to change the thought patterns among youths and interrogate certain actions so as to make informed decisions.
He says Africa should take a strong stance against the West’s attempts at obliterating the African population firstly through the commodification of women as a subversion of women’s role in African society as the centre of continuity, then by unleashing the HIV and AIDS pandemic.
The Reverend argued that homosexuality has become another method of making sure Africans do not multiply as a race.
Over the past two years or so, reports in the media have been chronicling illicit parties organised by the youth and the “Vuzu Parties” and “sex tapes” craze where youths engage in wild orgies and drug abuse. These are some of the examples of a youth suffering from an identity crisis oblivious of the dangers of HIV and AIDS. The images they see from Western media showing the “American Dream” which advocates for liberalism and democracy is proving to be an “African Nightmare” as the essence of being African is slowly diminishing. Surely Chinua Achebe, arguably Africa’s greatest exponent of Post-colonial Theory and a literary god must be turning in his grave in disappointment.
Renowned author and social critic, Pathisa Nyathi, bemoans the youths shunning of their African identity in an attempt tof assimilate and imitate Western values.
“Globalisation has turned the world into a village and like any village, it is the village chief who makes decisions. The village chief (the West) constitutes groups that have more political and socio-economic influence. Africa as a result, has been placed on the periphery and the younger generation is moving more and more into the centre, thereby losing its identity”.
“In as much as the world is made up of different groups with different values, worldviews and belief systems, and not all these values are compatible with African values. Western society through social media and other forms of communication has caused tensions between elders and the youth due to socialisation”.
It is clear then that a cultural revolution is in order and youths must actively participate in dialogue and collaborate with stakeholders so as to pave the way for Africa’s and their own future collectively.
Online Reporter