Children today are growing up far too quickly. Consuming news through social media outlets that even adults would struggle to process, their phones have replaced their mothers’ hands as they seek comfort from the uncomfortable.
‘Influencers’ like Andrew Tate and the late Charlie Kirk are shrouding the judgement of the many at the expense of the few – women, the LGBTQ+ community, anyone and everyone that society deems ‘other.’
Many of the far-right ‘influencers’ that are around today won’t even believe their own rhetoric, but knowing that the shock factor, ‘I can’t believe he just said that!’, sells, they will push it forward anyway, harming a whole generation in the pursuit of fame.
Alas, this is creating a worldview that is shrouded in hate for minorities. It is creating fear amongst the marginalised and a superiority complex amongst the majority.
Allow this to continue, and we enter a very dark time indeed…
Educate the children and it won’t be necessary to punish the men.
Don’t get me wrong, there is so much good that comes from social media. It allows for a degree of freedom of expression that has never been seen before. It fosters creativity and free speech and is a great way to connect with other like-minded people. It gives children an advantage in academia that they have never had before, and access to a job market that didn’t even exist prior to its inception, but behind all this, the same things that make social media so great also make it so terrifying.
The ability to say whatever you like unvetted has paved the way for so much hate at a time when, more than anything, we need love and togetherness.
Repeat: We need love and togetherness.
Unfortunately, though, this is what is missing.
We have become so aware of our perceived differences that we have forgotten how much closer we are than we are apart.
We have closed our minds off and forgotten what resides within each of us, our inner child.
Like a ghost, although our inner child remains largely unseen, having been silenced by the noise of modern-day society, where ‘CONSUME! CONSUME! CONSUME!’ echoes around a void that only money seems to fill; they are ever-present, nonetheless.
And, also like a ghost, our inner child is, all too often, misunderstood.
We catch glimpses of it/him/her; however you refer to your inner child, and many of us become frustrated.
‘Why can’t it just leave me alone?’
Our inner child can follow us around like a dead weight (ghost pun unintended) and make us feel like we will forever be chained to the past.
This is where we must reframe our thinking. We are not chained to the past in the sense that we are oppressed by it; our inner child is not something we must try to outrun. We are connected to our inner child in the sense that we can learn from it.
We can all learn from the sense of wonder that a child feels when a butterfly lands in the palm of their hand and they feel like they’re holding the world. Something so delicate yet so strong at the same time.
The innocence of childhood is what is missing from life.
Next time you witness a sunset and your eyes well up and you can’t understand why, and you quickly reach into your pocket for a tissue to wipe away any sign of life behind your eyes, I want you to ask yourself…
Why?
‘Why do I feel the need to hide my sensitivity when my emotions are the very thing that makes me human?’
Remembering that a child is within each of us can help us to make better decisions when we feel compelled to suppress ourselves, or ‘tone it down’ to create a more ‘palatable’ version of us.
Like ghosts, we are all simply misunderstood children trying to find our way back home.
Do that kid a favour, won’t you, and switch on the light.
Portfolio of Hope 