A sad video has made the rounds on social media of young boys standing by Prophet Passion Java’s car in Mbare.
At the beginning of the video, the little children call the prophet crazy and they use Shona vulgar words against him as well. They proceeded to trash the prophet’s music and threaten to beat him up.
One would think at this point the prophet would be angry at the children but he calmly continues casually talking to the children. He probes further to find out more about their lives and then later advises them to stay away from drugs.
Although it’s hard to ascertain if the little children use drugs, they do acknowledge that they know of drugs like Crystal Meth popularly known in Harare as “Guka”. The children also used words commonly used by adults as opposed to simple words expected for their ages.
This video comes as a culture shock for many. Growing up back in the 90s children were taught to behave a certain way especially in public and towards their elders. Firstly approaching the car of a stranger could potentially get you in deep trouble with your parents, let alone have conversations leaning on their car.
Children were expected to use certain language when they spoke to elders like “Makadini” “Maswera sei” which mean how are you and how was your day in plural form. The plural form is used to honour the adult. Insulting an elder was a punishable offence and these children insulted the prophet with such ease meaning they are exposed to that on a daily basis.
Although many may argue that not much should be expected from children that grow up in tough neighbourhoods, it is the responsibility of every parent/guardian, regardless of location, to discipline their child. There are so many people that are born and grow up in high-density areas like Mbare, Mufakose, Kuwadzana, Highfields etc that are respectful and do well. If these children are talking and acting like this at a young age, how will they turn out when they are adults?
Watch the video below