Watching a video trending on social media recently about some of the negative moral values of our youths, I was amazed and asked myself what the future holds for them in this modern-day Ghana. The video in question was about a young couple, the male being a driver of one of these specialised taxis (Uber) with the wife a housewife. Looking at them critically, I could say that they would be in their late twenties. It was early in the morning and the husband gave some money to the wife to cook while he left the house for work. Soon after the husband had left the house, the woman called another man on his mobile phone (apparently her boyfriend), told him she was paying a short visit since she had missed him a lot. The boyfriend agreed to that request and the girl went over.
WIFE CAUGHT ‘RED-HANDED’
After a good time and also enjoying themselves well, the man decided to hire a taxi through his phone to convey the girlfriend who was in a hurry back home. Lo and behold, it was the husband of the girlfriend who drove to the man’s house to pick the lady. As the taxi parked behind the gate of the man, waiting for the supposed passenger, the two came out from the house and shockingly enough, that was the wife of the taxi driver. The boyfriend did not know the girl’s husband but the girl, upon seeing her husband felt ashamed and started begging him for forgiveness.
This scenario and many obscene videos trending on social media, should vividly tell us how morally corrupt our youths have become in our dear society. They have imported all kinds of dirty and negative practices from the so-called advanced countries and are practising them openly with no regard to the elderly. Is that the civilisation we are clamouring for in our dear country? God save our nation.
IMMORAL YOUTHS
The youths of today, are quite disappointing as most of them have lost their conscience and are engaged in all kinds of promiscuous and adultery practices to the detriment of their future lives. They do not want to be corrected whatsoever when they do the wrong things. The proliferation of churches in this country, some with dubious inclinations has worsened the lifestyles of the youths, many of whom hide behind them to do just the unthinkable and go scot free. The leaders of most of these so-called churches do not have control over the youth. Some of our youths attend churches, listen to various sermons for the sake of them but do the vice with serious implications.
LACK OF PARENTAL CARE
Most parents have little or no control over their children and wards in their tender age and, therefore, they do the amazing things to the astonishment of their parents. Is it not surprising that at the age of 18 years and little above, the youths mostly the young girls, who are in their teens, will be thinking of marriage when in actual sense they are not matured in terms of home management and child upbringing. It is a fact that some parents also contribute to these shortcomings by pushing their immature youth to enter into marriages without considering their ages. Some parents, even with some connivance of pastors and church elders, secretly bless the marriages of their under-age children. The moral decadence among the youth of today is, indeed, not the best thing to talk about in present day Ghana.
It is rightly stated that the future of any nation rests on the shoulders of the youths, as they will eventually become leaders of tomorrow. Therefore, anything targeted at this group of persons must be worthwhile and directed at helping to fulfil their purpose as would be leaders.
ACQUISITION OF GOOD MORAL VALUES
As the youths get prepared for leadership roles, it is pertinent to acquire good moral values and standards that will mold them into personalities ready to lead for the progress of the society since they serve as engine room of society. They serve as the drivers of any development trend activity in society and the major determinant of the extent of growth and development in a given society. It is a fact that the youths of today are usually energetic and are always willing to go the extra mile if the need arises to achieve the goals they have set themselves and what they believe in and to hold on to them.
Our youths continue to hold on to some negative values such as dishonesty, disrespect, intolerance, lack of cooperation, profit-oriented relationships, profane of life and abuse of human dignity, loss of pride in hard work and an increased interest in the pursuit of injustice and other crimes, all in a bid to acquire wealth. Today, most of our youths take pride in telling lies, engage in ungodly practices and embellishment of various criminal acts.
SERVING AS ROLE MODELS
It is a fact that our youths have deviated from the path of righteousness and society must be ready to help in instilling that discipline which is so crucial in their upbringing. The family which is the base structure of every society, must begin to right their wrongs with regard to restructuring their value systems because most of the youths learn from the elders in their families. Government and other authorities, especially those in leadership positions must see themselves as role models for the youths and begin to be responsible adults. They have to realise that the future of tomorrow depends on the foundation laid today and the youths cannot become trusted leaders if they cannot follow in trust.
HELPING THE YOUTHS FROM WAYWARDNESS
The Ministries of Youth and Sports, Children, Gender and Social Protection as well as other youth development and protection organisations, need to collaborate efforts to devise effective mechanisms and tailor-measured programmes designed to educate the youths to shape up their waywardness and prepare them as responsible adults to our society. Parents must also offer the necessary parental care to their adolescent children and not to push them into early marriages which serve no purpose but only to destroy their lives. Marriages among the youths are breaking today because of immaturity and also lack of proper counselling to the youths of today.
We need to help our youths to overcome this moral decadence that have engulfed our dear society. That kind of moral discipline that was introduced by the older generation which seemed to have eluded us now, must be sought and rekindled into our society so that the youths of today, must emulate and conform to it to safeguard their lives.
By Charles Neequaye