Like a small little rose, a kid is treated with delicacy by the caring parents and sometimes with the involvement of the extended family. “It takes a whole community to raise a child,” so I was told. What is right and what is wrong to the growing child is the responsibility of the whole community. The teachings of the norms of the tribe or clan to the children by the society, goes a long way in determining the type of an individual a child will be in the future.
I have come to learn the importance of listening to my parents and elders. They have come of age and they have seen it all. They have been there and done that. Yes, most of the aspects of life are learnt through experimenting, but there are other aspects, which are irreversible, hence experiments are not worth the risk. For example, impregnating a girl and getting infected with HIV, and killing, one cannot really say one can experiment with these. When we enter this world our parents have expectations of us, so they try to mould us in the folds of their expectations. We have the right to choose what we want to be in life, but sometimes it is worth it to discuss our future with our parents. When we aim to achieve our goals with the blessings of our parents and the community elders we can work towards them with a peace of mind and success is quaranteed.
Learning the real definition of who one really is comprises the most important thing in the foundation of the mature individual. This is done through evaluating what our community regards as right and wrong. We must learn to question the sense behind regarding these aspects as right or wrong. We get to see the reasoning behind the norms of our people. Even with the advent of HIV/AIDS, the question of protecting oneself through behavioral change will not be a problem since the community will be setting example to be followed by it youth. If it sets that “sleeping around” is wrong then it becomes wrong in the eyes of it people.
If we neglect the advice from our parents and elders is as good as denying ourselves the opportunity to grow up with the right morals, principles and wisdom for a responsible person. If the community neglects it youths, it is as good as killing itself and setting ground for immature and irresponsible persons. The end result in the long run is disastrous.
