adminTatenda Makombe
In the wake of numerous reports of teenagers engaging in wild nude parties, one is left with more questions than answers as to what has become of our children. There is nothing in our African culture that we can even remotely relate to this indecorous behaviour. Discussing this issue with friends, questions that kept emerging from our discourse were;
Who are the parents or guardians of these children? Where will they be when their children party, in some cases into the wee hours of the night? Where will school authorities be as some of these parties are held during schooling hours? What are we doing as a society to deal with this social problem?
The society should be concerned about this new pattern of behaviour as it is apparent that some teenagers do not value societal norms that promote human dignity. Recently the writer learnt with shock that at these fiendish parties mostly advertised via whatsapp and Facebook pages, teens have sex competitions. In this light, it is clear that these parties are unsafe for teens as they may do things they might regret for life.
Back in the day, parents used to put curfews on their children and counselled them if they misbehaved. During those days, on one hand and at home parents monitored the behaviour of their children and on the other hand at school, teachers did the same. Oliver Mutukudzi’s song resonates the time-honoured expectation of the society on children,
Perekedza mwana zuva ravira kunze kwadoka, ….
Mai vanoti mwana wangu wanga uripi?
Zuva ravira kunze kwadoka
The lyrics of the song underline the need for a child to be home in decent time (before sunset). It also reveals the role of the parents in monitoring their children’s whereabouts and associations.
Most of the ‘skin-out’ parties are hosted by teens enrolled in schools and the activities that they indulge in range from spin the bottle, sex orgies to alcohol and drug abuse. To host these parties requires money which means that these teenagers will definitely get it from home.
One sociologist that the writer interviewed commented that, things today have changed and argued that the society faces an absurd social phenomenon in which we have many parent-less children with parents.
Because of the relentless pursuit of money, parents and guardians sacrifice their parental responsibilities to raise children. Some hardly find time to talk to their children, monitor their behaviour, chastise and pray with them as was the norm in the past.
A lot of teenagers are left to their own means when parents cross the borders in search of ‘greener pastures’ leaving behind their children in the, ‘pasture lands of mischief’. One of the first skin-out parties to hit the headlines bears testimony to this. It was hosted by two teenagers who live alone in Chitungwiza and whose parents are based in South Africa.
My interviewee argued that some children have biological parents who have since abdicated their parental responsibilities-hence parent-less children with parents. The writer had a heart to heart talk with one of the school heads in Mutare and the head revealed two cases in which it was clear that parents were failing their own children.
In one case a grandparent who was enrolling her grandchild at the school divulged that she had taken the child from her mother who was a drug addict and could not be a good model to her own daughter. In yet another case a parent called for her child’s disciplinary hearing, confessed to the school authorities how the same daughter who was facing disciplinary action sometimes advised her against excessive alcohol and substance abuse.
The same school head jokingly but truthfully said the school then realised that both the parent and the child desperately required counselling. These cases have left me wondering the levels of culpability of parents in causing the string of wild parties that are being reported in the newspapers.
The writer has learnt that recently some school authorities sought the assistance of the police to block a gig pencilled for sometime late this month in Mutare. The gig was dubbed, ‘All Xools United 10 Up Party Vol.3’. This was after it emerged that the organisers of the show were distributing fliers that invited pupils from local schools without authorisation from the Ministry Of Primary and Secondary Education.
It is such misguided events that have contributed to the mischief of our children. I am not against children having fun after all ‘All work and no play makes John a dull boy’ but fun has to be well guided and monitored by adults.
If there is any time in our African society that we need to guide these misguided teens, it is now. It is our job as adults to try and protect teens from ruining their lives before they are even developed enough to enjoy them. Wild parties should be reported to the police and culprits given deterrent sentences.
The recent peaceful march against vuzum (wild parties) in Bulawayo led by church and civic organisations is a step in the right direction and the police should bust these parties as the activities carried out there are not only immoral but illegal.
The children are our future and a society that does not groom its children well has a doomed future. Let us all be vigilant – Let us all protect our children from this self-destructive behaviour.
Online Reporter