This is the parable young people develop when parents start giving them strict restrictions on some life gatherings leading to a desire to experience them, hence finding it more attractive.
With numerous reports on insecurity, youths were to be educated on life desire but as night falls, it is a new day for some, while it is a moment of rest for others, others use it as moments of hustling and others as moments to partying, dating, and meetups. As darkness covers the city, everything changes. Some young people have even come up with a special day known as “Jeudi des filles” as the name implies, Thursday for girls. Girls have the floor, they party with men and go along with them, and the outcomes are at times drastic.
The L’etudiant newsroom caught up with a sociologist in the name of Françoise Feuzeu who says “materialism and consumerism are the key elements for poor decision making. Materialism encourages young people to have this desire to collect more and more material goods, and consumerism, which is justified by advertising, which leads young people today to want to consume more and more.
So these two elements can actually influence young people in the sense of making bad decisions, which could lead to removal and what we witness out there” The sociologist highlight the negative influence of materialism and consumerism on young people’s decision-making, specifically how these factors can lead to poor choices and potentially harmful behaviours.
Who is really to Blame?
Parents, youths and government are put in to questioning. We cannot blame parents Ako Therese says « parents will never want to see their child with friends that are not beneficial in a positive way, that is to say that, we do all we can to advise them and make sure they are updated with life happening, but we put to birth a child not his heart, they can easily be touched by friends, influencers » If you ask me who is to be blame I will say youths, our children.
The have their life in their hands, the know what is good and bad and if home advice to them is not enough then street advice will be educative. She adds, « Is it the parents, who struggle to guide children in a world they no longer recognize? Is it the youths, who see no reason to follow rules that do not protect them gotten from parents, or is it the government, the police, the society that cannot identify criminals and insecurity persists? There are no easy answers. But one thing is clear, until safety becomes real, not just a promise, youth will keep living in fear, defiance, or worse, resignation.
Because right now, for many, the only certainty is that death does not ask for permission. It comes when it wants late night outings or indoors, it will still meet you. “We do not wish death to anyone, but if I were to give my opinion, parents should allow children to feel the outside life. Otherwise, they would not know why the restrictions. Let them have a taste, and I bet you, they will be calm,” Elisabeth Fon, a parent, explains. The sociologist believes we must work together to protect our youth.
First, we should keep young children off social media, as it can harm their growth. Schools need to teach strong values again, not just facts. Parents and teachers must live by good examples – children copy what they see. Media companies should be more careful about what they show, without removing free speech. Finally, communities must create support programs to guide young people.
All these steps together at home, in school, in media and in neighbourhoods will create a safety net for our children. Empty warnings don’t work, we need real action from everyone.
