Last week at school there were two boys who came late into class, making noise, they were drunk, and disturbed the lesson. They are on Mxit the whole day. This was not the first time. I used to see a similar situation in Zimbabwe. The problem in Africa is that we do get a chance, but we don’t take it and then blame colonialism and our parents for not having money.

Every time I look around I find that a lot of Africans still blame the past for our own failures. We Africans should not hide or avoid real issues affecting our continent, like poverty, sickness and political and tribal conflicts. Instead it must be every Africans responsibility to change the dark image of our continent. No continent around the globe will solve our domestic problems on our behalves. For us to solve our problems we need to co-operate. We need to unite.

We teenagers claim: ‘the future of Africa lies in our hands’….then why don’t we strive towards an Africa, where children’s rights and women’s rights are respected, an Africa where people of all races can move freely without being intimidated, an Africa, where religion/race/tribe is not an issue, an Africa with HIV free citizens…..a continent with world-class educated young men and women..

I believe that this dream for Africa is not a wild goose chase, but a dream that can be achieved in a very short time, even though there will be lots of challenges.
The real big challenge we face is ourselves, teenagers. We are the biggest thread to the continent. We are becoming more and more irresponsible, each day. Our biggest mistake is that we celebrate life before we make it to the highest level. With this I mean: we do not take life serious until we are adults. We drink alcohol, smoke cannabis, come late to school, have no respect for teachers and even encourage each other by saying it is cool to behave that way, we’re proud of ourselves.

I don’t have a problem with teenagers drinking or smoking, but I am very concerned. Our parents who pay our school fees work their skins off; still we do not appreciate their sacrifices. How would you feel if you were a parent and had a teen that didn’t show that appreciation?

By the time we realize our stupidity, it is too late for us. (time wasted can never be recovered) That’s when we start blaming the past, colonialism and our parents/guardian. We fear to face the fact that our parents/guardian, NGO’s, government gave us the chance to celebrate real life. We must admit that we mess with our own future, instead of blaming others.

What percentage of the African teen populations do you think has access to education? I think this percentage is more than 70%. Out of this 70% only a few make it to the brighter side of life. What do you think is the problem?

My message to all African teenagers is: let’s be role models to our politicians! In that way they can have respect for us.

If we choose to keep our current attitudes (of being drunk, coming late, disrespecting teachers and being proud of that) we should stop complaining. When politicians take advantage of our behaviors and miss-use state funds that were designated to empower youth, we should realize that change is in our hands.