Spare us your nasty jokes

In the past week, Kenyans went on rampage on social media after a man posted information suggesting his indulgence in child abuse.

 In the entire hullabaloo, what caught my attention most was the number of people who were up in arms justifying the man’s actions and calling it a joke.

For heaven and hell’s sake, who sent the memo about the change of the meaning of the word ‘Joke’? I am here to tell you that I did not receive that memo and I do not want to be part of it either.

What tore my heart even more was the number of women supporting the man’s actions. Where did you get or where are you planning to get your children from? Do you even love children in the first place? Children are not manmade and it’s not like they can be replaced by a click or a switch.

 In fact, no human being can be replaced because we are all special in our own way. That is why I do not get the joke you are talking about.

 What is there to laugh about someone making nasty comments about the private parts of our underage generation? What kind of generation are we bringing up if we can sit back and laugh about child abuse?

Many children have not only lost their dignity and confidence because of this but also their lives. As we stand up and fight against child abuse and anything of that sort, a group of heartless beings cannot be dragging us behind and thumping their chests in confidence while at it.

 What exactly has become of this country? To think that those who are laughing at this occurrence could be or are parents is even more heartbreaking. Where will we hide our children?

These same people are the ones bringing up future law offenders if not current. Our children look up to us for guidance and when we show them that it is OK make fun of sensitive matters, they will sit back, enjoy the show and pick up from where we left off, that is if we ever leave.

This will result in one vicious cycle that will haunt us forever. This is why I will pose my question once again; at what point were we supposed to laugh at the supposed joke? What words exactly in that whole post acted as the ‘epicenter’ of the joke? You might think it’s funny until it knocks on your door.

Yes, there is a phrase where I come from that goes like “Liel mit ka wadu” which translates to “A funeral looks better when it’s happening in another homestead”.

You can go dance and drink yourself silly when attending a funeral elsewhere, but wait till you have to hold one right under your nose. That’s when you will get to feel the magnitude of it.

 Unless you are immortal, I would suggest that you bring your upper lip to meet with your lower lip and spare us your verbal diarrhea.

Child abuse is not and has never been something to make fun of. As a woman and a mother, I feel not only disappointed but grieved as well for the direction we are headed.

If we do not take this monster by its horns and make it history, it will make us history instead and this, it will do mercilessly. My three decades in this planet have taught me that one is, could be, encouraging others to be or is planning to be what he says.

There is a lot to be joked about ranging from very hard avocados to very soft praying mantis.

That is why I do not understand why among all these, one would settle to joke about child abuse. To all those who found it funny, the ‘David’ that is supposed to hit you dead is still swinging his sling!