Teens should know real view of their world to protect it

Allow me to be both vague and specific this week. A teenager, let’s call him Vlad, went ballistic this week and netizens responded by going viral. The incident reveals how moralistic, judgmental, detached and uncommitted Kenyan middle class can be at the same time.

Five videos of profanity, sexism, sex talk, references to trolling, bullying and intimidation was all it took for this soon-to-be-a-man to become, in his own words, publicly famous. Directed at another female student, the videos provoked a barrage of chatroom comments by those familiar with the boy, family and school. The messages hit all our stereotypes and prejudices. The absentee single mother, Nigerian boyfriend, too much alcohol not enough face time parenting, the anti-gay jabs and all of this, in a devoutly Catholic school? Within hours, his videos were trending on adult social media platforms. Within days, a newspaper had devoted an editorial opinion.