Tags
Acceptance, awareness, change, growth, individuality, perception
Children remain children in a parent’s eyes regardless of age, a crippling note of a parent’s love but it is an individual’s responsibility to grow beyond this. With that said, after careful evaluation, this generation, our generation, the youth has seized to be individuals but rather shadows mimicking their parents, teachings, becoming unfamiliar to independent thoughts and ideologies.
The argument then becomes, if raised in a biased environment are we then able to grow beyond beliefs instilled in us and become our own people? Are we then able to stand for what’s right regardless of the toxic environments we were raised in?
For an example political affiliations of one’s family. So many have grown up surrounded by certain ideologies that thinking for themselves has become an unfamiliar territory. As a generation that’s become more diversified than that of our parents, you’d think one would be able to think outside the box, implement policies and ideas that benefit the people but because of who the parents are one becomes blind to change and unable to implement knowledge acquired.
To a certain extent, cherishing one’s parent’s beliefs and ideologies is good for growth and understanding. After all, one has to know where they came from in order to understand their current position and give birth to future plans and movements. However, this should not be one’s identity completely because if so, then individual growth becomes inhibited.
Another issue that is usually over looked is the bias created by school NOT education but school…for one does not necessarily need to be in a classroom to be educated. Like Suli Breaks said, “…education is not just about regurgitating facts from a book based on someone else’s opinion on passing exams… ”.
A generation so set on getting a degree without really knowing why, well more like doing it because it’s said to be “the only way” to make it in life. We live in a world where individuality is encouraged but once explored, one is seen as an outcast, looked down upon, shunned. We were not created to be identical and once understood, this statement will pave way to a profound generation, a brand new people. Theorems are forever changing and that is because someone is willing to question what’s said to be true. Now if we are unable to question things taught, does that not make us a gullible people. ? In school we are indirectly taught how to perceive the world before us, teachings are instilled in us but we forget that at the end of the day, these teachings are someone else’s opinions, someone that came before us.
The question then becomes, if theorems that were said to be true are questioned, turn out to be wrong and are rectified, are we not ought to question those that we are taught in the name of getting an education and are said to be true?
As the leaders of tomorrow we should be able to be innovative, fearless of voicing out ideas that can benefit not only us but generations to come. As a generation that’s displaced and highly alienated, we should strive to use that to our advantage. Implement things we’ve seen work elsewhere that apply to our structures for the benefit of our own country.
We could go on and on about how we can build better generations and how self expression is important but as long as there is individual bias to the point of conscious ignorance and refusal to step out of one’s comfort zone, we will forever seize to grow as individuals and as a result, a nation, continent and world. Change is the one constant thing in life, fighting change is as good as fighting yourself.
*Written for Afrolemodele*
*April’sLoveChild*