I can’t remember the last time someone told me news that they saw on TV, read in a newspaper or even heard on radio, even if it was true. It’s mostly from social media or hearsay. Traditional methods of doing things are slowly but surely fading out. No one embraces and drives this change like the youth have. Technology moves so fast and changes things even faster. Look at what happened with books, these days people prefer e-books and pdf formats over hardcover books. Libraries are no longer a place where the youth can go and sit and read a book, but a place to sit and use the internet amongst other things.
It’s been a long time coming. Every generation comes with its changes and disrupts the way the previous generation did things. For some reason there is usually a resistance from the older generation of how things should be done or should work.
The youth accepts and drives the change while the older generation has a hard time accepting this change and rather spends a whole lot more energy trying to halt it instead of learning about it.
Change is inevitable everywhere, it’s how we grow physically, emotionally and mentally. History has shown that it’s the same with the economy and social issues, there has to be growth to be progression. In most cases this growth is driven by the youth. Traditional methods of doing things are always susceptible to change. What doesn’t change and shouldn’t change are the principles behind any method. They are the real drivers of change. Maybe this is where the youth are lacking or failing to understand or maybe it’s what our parents have been trying to teach us all this time.
Even though methods of doing things change the principles still remand the same. Even though people are reading less physical books, the principle of reading is still intact. The youth need to learn the principles behind old traditions and methods of doing things before they advocate and try to embrace all change. Not all change is positive.
There is always the danger of taking something that is working perfectly fine and making it less effective, as my godfather would say, “Not everything that can be changed is always meant to be changed.” Some changes don’t always yield the desired results and the only way to know this is through trial and error. As civilisation progresses it brings with it its own changes, traditional methods of doing things will be replaced by methods more fitting of the time and at the forefront of these changes are the youth. The youth are the wheels of change.
*Olavi Popyeinawa has a diploma in Alternative Dispute Resolution and is currently studying law, LLB at the University of Namibia (Unam). He will weekly contributing this column on youth mattersInstagram: niceguy_olavi Facebook: Olavi Longfellow
Twitter: @OlaviPopyeinawa