The Sunday Mail
Tanaka Chikomo
Dominican Convent
Dominican Convent recently invited The Sunday Mail Bridge for a two-hour discussion on the pros and cons of the digital world to the 21st century girl child. In attendance were Form Four and A-Level students. One of the pupils wrote the following report.
Smiles beamed with anticipation as the first speaker, a former Dominican Convent student, Julianna Makonese, picked up the microphone.
An entire three quarters of the female audience probably expected another one of those repetitive talks about how youths constitute the future and should value it.
Well, this insightful discussion was different.
Nothing short of a variety of emotions permeated the atmosphere — the audience laughed, sympathised and was even enraged.
When we think of social media, three main platforms come to mind — Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. One might expect all of these to have the same effects, which are to inform, conscientise and educate.
But, as presented in the talk, the reality is far from these expectations.
Because of followers on each platform, one is bound to be under public scrutiny. There is this insatiable desire to seek the approval of someone else who has their own life to live.
One, therefore, feels insecure and unprotected within his or her own skin. I was shocked by the fact that one can reach about 1,5 billion people on Instagram alone. Imagine how many lives we could change just by using social media to impact the other person, rather than to depress them every time they view your “picture perfect” post and caption.
The guest speaker was The Sunday Mail Bridge’s Charles Mushinga.
He proved to be a family-oriented person when he shared a heartfelt anecdote about how his daughter posted pictures of a Kariba family trip (thanks to Mr Mushinga’s generous profession as a journalist) on WhatsApp and the consequences thereof.
Furthermore, the fact that she’s just seven years old left every soul, including myself, in awe.
This exemplifies how social media has an enormous influence on every human being. We live in a digital age.
I am sure several of my peers will agree with me that the talk was more animated than anyone had anticipated.
Not only did the audience learn, but it also felt as though the seminar was a mere break time exchange with a couple of important people in the mix.
The extensive use of slides and videos made everything more comprehensible such that no one wanted the session to come to an end.
In conclusion, social media is certainly becoming like oxygen, something humans cannot do without, particularly for young people and more so for young females. We all have the capability to be victims of this bitter-sweet phenomenon. Social media is a right and a choice but with every right comes responsibility.
Students, you can send your articles through e-mail, Facebook, WhatsApp or text Charles Mushinga on 0719936678 or send your articles, pictures, poetry and, art to [email protected], [email protected] or follow Charles Mushinga on Facebook or @charlesmushinga on Twitter.
