Again with a new challenge! The #ifikiewazazi. Heard of it? After an unknown girl bashed critics on how girls should be allowed to dress as they want in an online video, inappropriate photos of youth in very compromising positions have been shared online with the hashtag “ifikiewazazi” so parents can know what their kids are upto. These teenagers make use of pseudo accounts to enjoy anonymity on social media platforms where they post and share pictures and videos of themselves which they would rather not reach their parents.
So, is this the right way to curb immorality in our society? Or is it not?
The trending #ifikiewazazi takes a stance both ways in curbing immorality. Like a coin, it has two sides: the positive one and the negative.
On the positive side, it is really a way of lowering the ever-rising rates of immorality in our country. Teens are taking advantage of the busy schedule of their parents to participate in demeaning activities such as sexual acts or imitating them, as is in the pictures trending. Parents toil so hard to make ends meet that they pay zero attention to what their children are upto. Most of these videos are posted right under the noses of the parents. Hence spreading these pictures like a wildfire in the Wild West is making it known to them just how “innocent” their children are.
Again, this hashtag has brought to our and the society’s awareness that there are sexual predators out there. Luring teens, enticing them with photography ( because that is what teenagers are into nowadays) and leading them right where they want them. With the exposure of these raunchy acts, it has been found out that these teens do not know each other, rather are recruited online from instagram, contacted and taken to areas of photoshoot. This will enable the security officers to undertake surveillance so as to get hold of these photographers and also protect the teenagers.
However, this exposure has its cons. By shaming these teens online, it poses a threat to their social life. Remember, the internet never forgets and those pictures are going to travel far and wide. Therefore, those teens are going to suffer humiliation from their peers. Imagine how it would be for them going back to school after that whole episode? Do you think it would be as before? No. Those teens would be shunned by their mates, the teachers are probably going to hate them for their acts and may even use them as an example of bad morals ( which, is not okay). They would be labelled as the kids you should avoid. They’d be stigmatized and isolated as if they were lepers. They might end up being bullied, called names: slut, whore and so many others. This might, moreso, lead them to committing suicide.
What of the parents? That innocent woman who thought her daughter/son knew nothing about sex and anything related to it. She will no longer be able to show her face infront of her fellow women. She’d probably be an outcast, a laughing stock in the ‘mtaa’. Her neighbours might avoid her and her family. She’ll lose friends and probably even her family!!!
Furthermore, this ruins the future of the teens partaking in these raunchy activities. It makes them lose job credibility from an employer’s point of view as their image is already tarnished, regardless of having turned a new leaf.
My take is that this hashtag is doing more harm than good. It is hypocritical as it does not directly act upon immorality going on in our society.
What do you think?
