The Sunday Mail
Kathy-Zoe Baira Birmingham City University, UK
Even though I don’t have any children I do know that I used to be a child at some point in time. Unfortunately or fortunately, social media and technology were not as dominant as they are today. Ooh makes me sound so old, when in actual fact, I’m only 22. I often wondered how I could get permission from my parents to do anything. Due to the financial struggles, I grew up all over Zimbabwe. Kwekwe, Gweru, Chivhu, Masvingo, Harare, Mhondoro…the list is long.
It is often nerve-racking for a child, especially teenagers, to ask for anything. Especially in this era where children are more exposed to things like social media and technology. Besides the ever evolving technology, knowing my old fashioned, Zimbabwean guardians, they would say . . . oh yes, you guessed right, “NO!!!”
If it is your child doing the pleading, it will be just as stressful, usually because you have to come up with a great, goddamn reason. And with this generation, you need to justify why you responded in that manner.
A recent survey carried out by TP Link revealed the general consensus parents feel is the right time to be passing milestones on the path to adulthood.
Social media and technology has left mothers and fathers more worried about online safety than they are about real-world dangers, like burning the house down or children drowning or burning.
Most think children should be allowed to walk home alone at 12 but should only open a Facebook account at 14. New sites often spring up and there is no social media “rule book” for parents and guardians. Actually, 12 seems to be the most reasonable age to allow youngsters to have phones, laptops, birds and bees chat, walking home alone, key to the door and if you are born with a silver spoon in your mouth, a TV in your room.
Social media standards however, are very different. At the age of 15, it is alright to have accounts across social media such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and twitter. This age is also safe to go to town alone, almost safe. Problem is though, in Zimbabwe, children partake in different activities at a much younger age due to intelligence and knowing more about these things than the current guardians.
Our parents used to tell our grandparents that they needed money to “buy photosynthesis and osmosis because the thesaurus and dictionary are finished”. This generation is more scarier as it is more exposed and the basically know more than the parents themselves. A few years ago, I bumped into letters and other correspondence between my parents, it was so authentically romantic, capricious and side-splitting. It got me thinking though. The way our generation is extremely exposed to everything, do they still write letters and sneak about as kids or has the mobile technology destroyed it all?
Did you ever play ‘‘mahumbwe’’ and did you want to be the parent? Well, at this rate, everyone is all about iPhones, tablets, android, Pokémon go and play stations. The general conversation is taking place on Facebook, Twitter and the various platforms that often spring up.
If you want to know more about this then there you have it, age is all about how you as a parent wish to train your child. And remember, value the cost of your decision as he who is prepared to fight, should be prepared to deal with the casualties and cost of war. “Happy parenting”
I am currently a final year law student in the UK. Feel free to send me feedback or chat via Facebook (VaChihera Zoe) or twitter @KairaZee
