Youths Of My Age

"wasted generation", "irresponsible", "lazy" are least of the names that youths of my time have been forced to bear in my country. They are blamed for anything that goes wrong.

So has is it been in my time; an age where many cannot afford western education and are still inundated with "if education is expensive, try ignorance" by those that went to school either on scholarships or community efforts.

Majority of the youths of my age roam the streets armed with their first class and second class certificates, worn out shoes and threadbare suits looking for the much promised but non-existent jobs. 

"Employment for all by the year 2008, 2015, 2020" no longer mean anything to them. They are told that education is the key yet they have had more doors slammed in their faces than they can remember. Defying hunger and frustration, some still stand tall in salute to the dignity of man. Yet they are termed "unresourceful" by those who were offered jobs, cars, houses even before they finished their degree exams.

The burden of expectation has been too much for some and they fell by the wayside of armed robbery, prostitution, fraud and other vices but my SALUTE goes to all of you who have despite all odds, risen to touch that silver lining in their cloud of uncertain future and resolved to be rallying points for others and a beacon of hope to the rest.

Emeka Amakeze writes

Culture Transmission: The Youths Approach

Culture which can be defined as the art, music, literature and other intellectual expressions of a particular society in time, transmits from one age to another, from one generation to the other. 

The transmission of culture can either occur consciously or unconsciously. Each age has their own concepts and specific techniques of encountering the transmission of culture. In the same vein, the youths of each age assume a peculiar approach to cultural values which more often than not manifest in the form of constant re-enactment of acceptance and rejection, modification and fine tuning of the cultural values of the passing age.

The youths are often challenged to sift the values of the passing age in preservance of modern and current values, thereby making it one fundamental feature of any cotemporary culture that the modern and current values are the requisites from whatever cultural values the youths of an age would preserve from the past ages.

The youths are always opposed to the consistency of cultural values from one age to the other. By virtue of their constant dynamic reactions to new realities and novel discoveries, the youths argue that the cultural values upheld by a past age should not have any influence on those of the modern age. Thereby holding the concept of change as a constant in culture and culture transmission.

However, being conscious of this attitude of the youths of every age towards culture and culture transmission and knowing full well that one day, the youths of today will become elders of tomorrow and would expect the youths of such generation to be tied to the values of their past age, a compromise is all that is needed.

Liberty should be given to the maintainance or marriage of some of the cultural values of a passing age and the modern and current ones. What the youths deem unbecoming of the passing age should not be forced on them. Attempts to do so , even in the past have always yeilded nothing but widening the gap of cultural perspective between the past ages and the youths.

Emeka Amakeze writes