Although the United Nations considers a young person to be someone between the ages of 14 and 24, “there is no real universal consensus on the age range to consider when it comes to young people. ¹» Indeed, whether we are in Africa or in other continents, the answer to the question of knowing up to what age can one be considered a young person varies and even creates animosity among some. “The answer is all the more difficult as youth is the object of excessive social desirability²” in a troubled world where old age is not always a sign of wisdom.

But whether we accept the fact of being old or not in a world where each individual is called to become a better version of themselves, the degree of maturity is what matters most. Indeed, each generation is always the fruit of the work of a more experienced previous generation, of more seasoned expertise or of exemplary and essential education in the era of increasing development of the benefits of modernization which have their advantages and their disadvantages. And since we are never mature enough to know everything, nor naive enough to accept everything, “youth is a social construction made according to the difficulties encountered³”; is a permanent construction that does not end with the appearance of the first wrinkles or other signs of a person of a great age because if in facts physical appearance shows signs of old age, life experiences make it possible to differentiate between true degrees of maturity and those which do not always coincide with advanced age or which are characterized by disconcerting trends in a world corrupted by attitudes that have shaped individuals whose behaviours or actions are not only contagious but also harmful for present and future generations.

Men as the cause of His own ills

Men is the product of the environment in which He lives. The quality of education that young parents give to their child will constitute the basis of a long learning process which will be of great use for the child throughout his life. Whether he or she reaches adulthood or not, he or she will know what to do to avoid slippages or what to do honestly when he have misbehaved.

Right conduct or a responsible attitude is always the result of downstream work initiated by serious educators concerned about the future of their children. In fact, considering that the stage of childhood consists of "early childhood, middle childhood and adolescence⁴", at this stage, nothing depends on the child but on the young adults who support him and who have responsibilities towards him. He learns from them. If they have deplorable habits, he is likely to copy them and in turn reflect a bad image in society. Anyone who evolves into banditry and in the total indifference of those close to him is himself predisposed to being a bandit or even a criminal.

Education begins at a young age and continues over time because it is not overnight that we learn to know ourselves. Learning begins at a young age so that in adulthood this process can be perfected on the basis of what has already been acquired. When you know what kind of education you received, you cannot behave flippantly. It is when we are not aware of the quality or usefulness of the quality of education we have received that we can allow ourselves to act in a casual manner. The child evolves in environments where nothing depends on him at the start and where everything will depend on him when he is an adult and will have to demonstrate more responsibility thanks to the quality of education he has received.

But we live in a world where instead of it being the environment which carries the marks of Men's intelligence⁵", it is rather He who bears the marks of an environment perverted by Men because of an obsession with things pernicious to the point of no longer being able to demonstrate reason but instead adopting and making people adopt cheap attitudes suitable for individuals on the lookout for the slightest possibilities and opportunities without taking the time to ask themselves if the quality of the product offered is not harmful to society.

While we can be negatively influenced by our society, we ourselves can be the reason for our own misfortunes because of the bad quality of education we received within our family unit or behaviours to be censored that have become uncontrollable because of the laxity of parents and others educators.

Also read : Education of consciences and prevention of aggressive, desparate and immodest acts in places of learning.

It is within the family that we learn to know ourselves among others through the exemplary education received from parents, the transmission of cultural and even ancestral values ​​which certainly vary from one tribe to another but which are always full of wisdom. Not being aware of this is already a real problem. It is within the family unit that we begin to learn what is good or bad for others, firstly from the advice of parents in particular, then by ourselves, that is to say by what we ourselves do not like, and efforts that we must made to better know our fellow human beings or the society in which we live. Indeed, “How can we know how to care for ourselves, if we do not first have knowledge of ourselves? Ignorance of the self makes it impossible for the [is] to constitute as such the object of any concern.⁶» We cannot expect an act of kindness from a lawless individual or from an individual who threatens his fellow human beings on digital platforms. At this stage we can no longer only speak of ignorance but of the categorical refusal to do good to others. If in adulthood the child will be held responsible for the reprehensible acts which will result from such a choice, at the stages of adolescence and even early and middle childhood, that is to say independently of other considerations between 0 and 25 years, it is the parents who will be the main responsible even if there are prisons for minors. For example, we cannot give a smart phone or tablet to a child without rules of conduct. At the risk of not letting him adopt the rules of conduct that he wants, taking inspiration from what he sees on social networks and on television, prescribing the rules of use is a necessity.

The correct perception of deceptive appearances

Men is the way of thinking before appearances. Sometimes by limiting ourselves to the level of appearances we overlook the essential because influenced by a world which has codes and for which the fact of dressing in a certain way would necessarily mean that we are either a light person, or a person belonging to a vicious circle. Lightness and monstrosity are not limited to appearances. They are first of all psychic.

We live in a world where influences grow over time. Everything is orchestrated to influence Men both positively and negatively. The only way to get out of it or not allow ourselves to be corrupted to the point of becoming decadent is to walk with the quality of education that we had to receive while being careful that this education we had receive does not bring us to hastily develop bad considerations about others because Men is not primarily what He wears or what he does. He is first of all what he says and what he thinks. And even if action is governed by thought, in a disrupted world and for a specific goal, action can sometimes be completely out of phase with thought even if it is by the actions of Men we judge Men. In other words, we must be wary of appearances by taking a step back to understand better and no longer act like idiots.

By simply limiting ourselves to what the other does, without taking into account who they are through what they say, what they think and what we really know about them, we will certainly end up with bad results. For example, you cannot like an activity like banditry and at the same time think that being a bandit is not a good thing. Unless he acts under duress, a thief cannot dislike his activity. Men always does what is good for Him. If what I do is bad for others it is necessarily good for me because I benefit from it. The act of stealing is in harmony with the idea, intention or thought of the person who commits it. He who attacks his fellow men to steal their property does so because for him it is a good thing that others do not like. Committing a wrongdoing and later regretting it is another story.

To avoid losing a child or letting him to be shaped by a world in crisis of values, it is better to do everything possible to give them a good education from the ground up. If later (during his adult life) he chooses to become a bandit, he will have to take responsibility for his actions since he chose to throw away the quality education he received. By assuming basic responsibilities, the parent teaches their child to act responsibly in a world rife with harmful influences. By being lax, he runs the risk of losing it and being the main responsible for the situation in which this child or young person will finds himself.

The responsibilities of parents towards their children. Illustration Image Pixabay

Basic education and complementarity of actors

The parent lays the first stones that will underpin their child’s education. “Parenthood is a very broad function which includes legal responsibilities as defined by law, moral responsibilities as imposed by socio-culture and educational responsibilities.⁷»

The parent is the first teacher. He instils in his child the means to achieve a better result through the culture of effort and sincerity in effort. He is the first sociable person in the sense that having knowledge of the necessities of life in society or in community, he teaches his children how, according to him, it is wise to behave in society. He has knowledge of codes. He may not know them all, of course, but he has experience in choosing or a better discernment of bad tendencies.

The other Co-educators arrive after him. Schools are only continuing the work that has already been started by the parent to whom they are supposed to provide a permanent report. In addition to the report from the teacher or administration, there is also that of the child. Indeed, if the teacher evaluates the qualities of the child, the child also, thanks to the education that his parents have given him, must be able to evaluate the qualities of the teacher and it is up to the parent to discern so as not to be fooled by one or the other. So, if the teacher is bad, that is to say, if it is proven that he moves the children away from the moral standard, the parents must know this and find a way to reframe everything or to move their child of this type of individual.

In a changing world we can never be careful enough. Indeed, with perverse teachers in the same way as pedophile Men of God and young people who increasingly develop insidious attitudes that can confuse even their parents, nothing must be neglected because with the explosion of harmful influence social networks, we are always in the presence of a double-edged sword. By staying awake we do not risk becoming a person who unknowingly shelter a cyber-harasser under the mask of an adorable and exemplary child or a spouse who is in fact a real sexual predator.

On the occasion of the first day against harassment and violence in schools in 2020, the United Nations declared that all over the world, children are victims of cyberbullying in schools. These phenomena are also accompanied by physical intimidation which can lead the subject in question to commit suicide; hence the importance of self-esteem in a world which because of an overestimation of itself, is not able to appreciate the other at its true value and finds itself obliged to manifest its ignorance and sometimes even its jealousy on individuals who can sometimes be affected to the point of wanting to kill themselves; hence the importance of cultivating a positive attitude from a young age so as not to let oneself be manipulated by the ignorant and unconscious. Moreover, we must free ourselves from inherited considerations which sometimes prevent to denounce absurdities committed by certain adults who take advantage of the ignorance or naivety of certain children to sexually abuse them. And the trend is not limited to the primary level but also to the secondary and university levels. Those who sometimes have the courage to complain to the administration sometimes come up against a wall of complicity which is in fact a measure of coercion to encourage victims to give in to the advances of a perverse colleague. Teachers who turn into executioners are the fruit of social decadence. This is the consequence of an execrable abuse of authority carried out by followers of indecency and mediocrity who unfortunately had the privilege of contributing to the education and training of a youth who themselves unfortunately can also being the executioner of certain teachers thus giving birth to a double decadence⁸ in a decadent society which inspires many Hollywood, Bollywood and Nollywood scenarios which themselves will inspire other individuals devoid of common sense in depraved societies; hence the need to set age groups for certain films and to offer game consoles and smart phones among others with the required speech. In addition, “the time slot must become in screen education the equivalent of the plate in food education. Screens can be great tools for entertainment, learning and socialization. But not at all ages or at all times.⁹» Leaving your child's education to smartphones, tablets and other television screens without support means running the risk of losing them.

The benefits of modernization have disadvantages which should not be taken lightly, as does the tendency to be favourable to individual freedoms without accompanying measures. A parent should not give their child a firearm even if the State in which they live allows the carrying of weapons for self-defence. And even if a child must be taught to use a firearm, he should not be allowed to keep it for fear that this means of safety, to be used in the most extreme cases, awakens in him a vindictive spirit and overestimation of himself which will lead him to take the life of all those who look at him unfavourably or who speak unpleasant words to him.

Consequences of human trafficking around the world/ UNICEF/ Shehzad Noorani

Youth facing the resurgence of enormities in a decadent world

There are no new facts. There are only new trends of things that have always existed. Vice, for example, is as old as the world. To free himself from this, Voltaire and several father-educators after him propose work. A very good option which must always be accompanied by one or more reasonable goals. Work yes, but for what purpose? This is an essential question that everyone should ask themselves in a disrupted world where for some, all means are good to succeed.

Also read : Social decadence, one of the consequences of choosing success by all sulphurous means possible : what solutions ?

Decadence begins when we choose to deviate from the norm to embrace enormities. Work frees from “weariness, vice, and want¹⁰” only those who are still able to exercise common sense and not lawless individuals. Human trafficking¹¹ is lucrative but it does not free you from vice. The exploitation of an African culture to make money with disregard for the lives of others does not free you from vice. The same goes for the abusive use of narcotics to commit reprehensible acts, hacking, cyber intimidation, sexual harassment, femicide, and toxic information or fake news. These are activities that have always existed but which have taken new turns over time by adapting to multiple technological developments. As much as they are, they do not free us from vice, from boredom or from need because in fact, being free from vice is carrying out an activity that respects human dignity. You can't get out of boredom when you sow chaos around you, and even less so when you suffer from a strong addiction to narcotics. As long as the need is linked to a deplorable life there is no satisfaction possible in the true sense of the term; that is to say, we cannot speak of the fruit of work honestly earned and thanks to which we can sincerely grant ourselves a peaceful existence, when the means used to prosper are reprehensible and even constitute obstacles to good governance. In other words, if we must “cultivate our garden¹⁰” as Voltaire suggests, we must do it honestly, sincerely without harming the existence of our fellow human beings.

The youngest perpetuate in new forms the nauseating habits of those who preceded them thanks to multiple technological innovations. Computer hacking has become commonplace, as has cyberbullying. Sexual harassment in educational and professional environments as well as feminicides are committed by young people who only relay what they have chosen to adopt as a lifestyle.

Responsibility has given way to irresponsibility veiled by a kind of victimization which is in reality only a facade attitude which hides cowardice, hypocrisy and perversity; hence the resurgence of fake news to discredit others or show through falsified evidence that he or she is decadent while we are all part of this same system which has, and which continues to violate norms to implicitly legitimize absurdities such as the violation of human rights, the contempt for the lives of others through massacres, the unbridled pursuit of selfish interests, and the sabotage of infrastructures of common utility and then playing the victim.

Which young people for future generations? Another essential question in a world where moral and ethical values ​​are threatened by enormities inherited from previous generations. If in such a context it is necessary to capitalize on education, it must be of a quality to be continually questioned in order to produce more acts in conformity with the required standards and not be limited only to the levels clichés and prejudice to judge others because there are only bad tendencies those created by Men to destroy Men and make Him a slave to His own creations.

In its raw state there is nothing bad. After transformation, the good remains but we must be able to discern the true from the false by taking a step back, that is to say by giving ourselves time to reflect in order to be satisfied not with what is good but with what is better.

Young people are becoming more and more decadent in part because several of the generations that preceded them have resigned. Some parents are so overwhelmed with work that they take advantage of the little time off they have to relax while their children die before their eyes. Others are more concerned with taking care of their mistresses or companions. Furthermore, the transmission of excellence through sexual activities is a reality as is the transmission of mediocrity which is equivalent to a mediocre grade as a consequence of a refusal to give in to the advances of a crooked and perverse educator. To this we should add Men of God who behave like odious Men, sexual vagrancy and all the other enormities having erected their tent in our increasingly complex societies. But beyond all this good remains and it is never far away. He is always found in the quality of person that we are and the quality of people that we want for generations to come. We must therefore not just say that the world is bad and follow any trend. We must tell ourselves that the world is bad and embrace good trends, that is to say, those which we really like and which we are ready to accept and not hide behind the veils of hypocrisy and disproportionate interests of a decadent world which has always been so.

English|French

References

[1] Paix, dignité et égalité sur une planète sainte

[2] Jeunesse d’aujourd’hui et organisation de la jeunesse de demain

[3] Catherine Tourrilhes, Construction sociale d’une jeunesse en difficulté, Agora débats/jeunesse, 2006, Numéro 40, pp 108-119

[4] How and when does childhood end?

[5] J. Favez-Boutonnier, l’homme et son milieu, Bulletin de psychologie, 1958, numero 11-146, pp497-500

[6] Martine Pécharman, connaissance de l’Homme et connaissance de soi selon Pascal, enseignement philosophique, 2008/3, pp 22-35

[7] Reconnaitre les parents comme premiers educateurs de leur enfants.

[8] AFRIQUE - Notes sexuellement transmissibles : Et si le bourreau était la victime ?

[9] Les balises 3-6-9-12, un guide des écrans en familles, pour apprendre à s’en servir et à s’en passer[10] Voltaire, Candide, free editorial

[10] Voltaire, Candide, free editorial

[11] La traite des êtres humains est la 3ème activité illégale la plus lucrative au monde

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