Anonymous | Saturday, January 13, 2001 - 12:15 pm Assalamu Caleeykum I do not have much time, but will make this short and sweet,no, make that bitter. I am a Somali youth who resides in the US. Today was my first time to this site, and so being a youth, I chose to go to the teens discussion section. And to say the least, I was not impressed, infact, I was quite shocked. I, who had expected some intellectual or at least some interesteing discussion topics in a Somali youth Forum, found nothing of the sort. What I found were disgusting conversations laced with crude insults and vulgar language. There was no semblance of respect in most of the messages I read, many of them written in vulgar english.Have you been to the discussion area yet? So what has happened to our youth? I do not intend to generalize, but we are seeing a trend in which many of our youth are disregarding their Somali culture and religion to pursue the much more coveted American culture.I am quite aware of those youth who have had wonderful parents who have instilled in them a sense of discipline and many of the beliefs they carry with them today. But what of the Somali youth I see walking the streets while their mothers are at home trying to take care of 4 other children? It is time we examine our priorities as a community, and focus on the education and upbringing of our youth in a society that represents beliefs that we certainly do not want to intill in our children. So what does the future hold? Well, that lies in the hands of the Fathers and Mothers who are responsible for the upbringing of the future leaders of our country. Assalaamu caleeykum. |