RECENTLY, what could be aptly characterised as indiscipline epitomised by disobedience and unrestrained celebration of success resulted in the avoidable death by drowning of four young men at Elegushi beach in Lagos State. The youngsters had gone to the beach to celebrate their good grades in the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) whose results were released a while ago. The management of the establishment was said to have turned them back because they were not accompanied by any older person who could act as a chaperon and oversee them. However, instead of obeying the management and returning home or looking for safer ways of celebrating their achievements, they reportedly hitched their way through an unauthorised entry into the beach. And since the unauthorised entry led to an unsupervised portion of the beach, no help could readily come their way when the situation got out of control, and then tragedy struck.
The negative attitude of the youngsters exemplified by disobedience which culminated in the tragic incident speaks to the unruly nature of many youngsters these days which pushes them to want to dare restrictions and engage in whatever pleases them. They always want to assert themselves, and they don’t seem to see their parents whom they are wont to tag as ‘old school’ as enlightened and knowledgeable enough to lead and guide them because they are youngsters of the digital age. Indeed, many of them are stubborn and unruly: they claim they are not “get-inside” (submissive) children whereas in most cases, as in this one, they are naive and seldom appreciate the full ramifications and consequences of their acts of disobedience and insubordination. Yet, the trite aphorism still holds true that what an old person sees in a sitting position, a younger person may not see it even while standing on an elevated platform.
The young men in question have not only unwittingly and needlessly contributed to their untimely death but have also thrown their parents and loved ones into mourning and sorrow over permanent losses. It is hoped that other youths will learn from this unfortunate incident and readjust their attitude and behaviour towards those who are older and more experienced than they are about life issues. More importantly, the youth should learn to listen and weigh the advisories of their elders before rejecting them outright without any measure of thoughtfulness just because those words of caution do not suit their fantasies.
This saddening incident also calls to mind the responsibility of parents and guardians to monitor their children and wards properly. It is obvious that the youth of today can be really difficult to train and guide because of peer group influence and other externalities that tend to corrupt good manners. However, parents and guardians still have an abiding duty to up their ante and ensure that they continually educate and sensitise their children and wards about the importance of staying within the precincts of good moral values, including but not limited to obedience, decency and decorum at all times. There simply has to be more family supervision of young people, as the four young men under reference most probably left home without permission or declaration of their mission, and obviously without adequate supervision. It is, therefore, imperative that parents and guardians show more interest in the affairs of their children and wards in order to guard against this kind of tragic occurrence.
It should also be noted that even though the management of Elegushi beach claimed that the youngsters managed to enter into some unsupervised portion of the beach through unofficial means where they got drowned, the question may be asked as to why the establishment has an ungoverned portion within the beach. The point has to be stressed that it exceeds the bounds of reason and is indeed dangerous for organised beaches to have unsupervised portions within their formations that are not properly fenced away, as these could become attractions for those intent on mischief and negative acts. It would be advisable to have proper monitoring of all such establishments in order to prevent this kind of tragic incident from recurring. Certainly, the most significant lesson for other young people from this tragedy is the imperative of subordinating themselves to the leadership and guidance of elders in addition to learning to celebrate their successes with care, moderation and caution.
This is a most saddening incident from which other young people should draw moral lessons, but it is nonetheless important that they are strictly instructed in order to prevent a recurrence of the tragic episode.
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