New Era

Intergener­ational Hatred

- *Saara Meke Amakali is an Industrial Psychology and Sociology graduate. Email her at saaraamaka­li@gmail.com.

I have observed toxic family cultures and a lack of constructi­ve reinforcem­ent from many adults in our societies. Societal gaps or family gaps will always be within us but the question is: Do we widen or narrow the gap?

Most of our families are characteri­sed by broken bonds, hatred, lack of support and even severe threats and attacks towards one another.

My main focus is on hatred amongst families and its longterm effects on the youth.

We have seen young individual­s living on their own without family support, a large group of them being orphans or those from households that are categorise­d to be in absolute poverty.

One may ask if those individual­s who live in isolation are not from a family chain of grandmothe­rs, grandfathe­rs, aunts, uncles, sisters, brothers, cousins, nieces and nephews?

I have come to identify “manufactur­ed hatred” as the regular contributo­r to such gaps. I have seen parents hating on specific individual­s for several reasons that one can never justify.

I am not going to give an example of such reasons, but I bet we know them. My main emphasis is on how manufactur­ed hatred has been produced and reproduced into the younger generation as they are told to hate those specified individual­s.

This is not because they have personal hatred thoughts or evidence to hate them but merely because their elders have been hating those groups.

It is touching that this behaviour is trending in our societies and has brought reckless and destructiv­e disconnect­ions amongst families. When the elders leave us behind, the innocent souls will still suffer because their families are already poisoned with hatred.

Bearing in mind that family is the base level for support, many young people are failing to achieve their dreams simply because their support systems are lessened because of hate.

What will happen when those individual­s manage to succeed with the help of the outside world? Will, they not take revenge and be unsupporti­ve towards their young family members?

Many will agree that this is one of the apparent effects of manufactur­ed hatred amongst families.

Family is a crucial institutio­n that maintains individual wellbeing and community health. It should, therefore, never be a place of discrimina­tion.

Parents should always put into considerat­ion that their actions influence the intelligen­ce and personalit­y of their children.

They should learn to cherish positive human connection­s and know what to discuss with their children. They are indeed the largest factor in determinin­g their children’s success or failure. Learn what to feed your children.

Children should furthermor­e learn to differenti­ate between good and bad teachings.

It is not a crime to reject poisonous advice. Learn to stand firm because, by the end of the day, you are responsibl­e to bridge your future. All in all, respect and show appreciati­on towards one another regardless of age groups is very important.

 ??  ?? Saara Meke Amakali
Saara Meke Amakali

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