ExodusMagSep2017

INTIMACY
A friend of mine, who is very passionate
about youth, went to one township while
busy with one of her humanitarian projects.
At the time she was pregnant with her first
child. As she drives by a high school, one of
the students coming out of the school was
shouting to another student across the road
asking her for a condom. She tells the other
one that she needs ‘to go and get laid’ so
she must lend her a condom. My friend obviously
disturbed by this very loud conversation
between two high school girls, stops her car
and gets out to reprimand the girl. She tells
her how she should respect herself enough
to at least finish her education before she allows
herself to be a sexual vessel. The girl responds
to her by saying, “Just because you
got yourself pregnant doesn’t mean I am stupid
enough to get myself pregnant”, and
that she must mind her own business. Startled
by the response she indeed decides to mind
her own business and left.
Whether you turn on the television to watch
an episode of the local drama series or the
music channel to watch music videos, you
are greeted by obscene scenes or young
girls and/or women parading their naked
bodies. The magazines and the well-known
celebrities take pride in continuously posting
pictures of their naked selves. The world has
+ YOUTH
CORNER
made it a norm to dress almost nothing and
walk through the streets in the name of being
‘hot’ or ‘cool’. The media sponsors and
motivates this kind of dress sense. Sex is
made cool and something exciting enough
to want to try out. Your friends are doing it
and are boasting to you of how they have
now grown to being women. Young men
don’t want to be involved with you because
you are a virgin. You find that being a virgin
is now taboo and end up feeling the pressure
of giving it up.
With all this happening and as a
young person with a life seriously
influenced by what the television
portrays as cool or hot, you are
bound to want to keep up with
the trends and follow suit. However,
the decisions you make impact
your life and not the life of
those on television or your friends.
How you allow yourself to be influenced
by what the world or
friends tell you determines how
much you value yourself and your
future.
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